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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




The Way Lost. 



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THE 



WAY LOST AND FOUND 



A BOOK FOR THE YOUNG, 



ESPECIALLY YOUNG MEN 



BY THE 

Rev. JOSEPH F. TUTTLE, D.D., 

President of Wabash College. 



■» «• ► 




PHILADELPHIA: 

PEESBYTEEIAN BOAED OF PUBLICATION, 

No. 1334 Chestnut Street. 

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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereotypers, Philada. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTEE I. 
Lost the Way 9 

CHAPTEE II. 
A Guide-Book Needed 16 

CHAPTEE III. 
The Guide-Book Found „ 19 

CHAPTEE IV. 
A Great Fault 24 

CHAPTEE V. 
Hearing 29 

Whom to Hear. 

What to Hear. 

How to Hear. 

CHAPTEE VI. 
Habit ... 39 

Nature of Habit. 

Power of Habit. 

Besponsibility for our Habits. 

Eead this Chapter on Habit Carefully. 

CHAPTEE VII. 
A Good Name 64 

Three Eeasons for Desiring a Good Name : 
God Loves him who has it. 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

It is an Unfailing Comfort to him who has it. 

It is the only Sound Stock on which to Graft a Good 
Eeputation. 
A Good Reputation 
Samuel Paine. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

How a Good Character is to be Gained 79 

Industry. 

Mental Training. 

Bad Company. 

Luther's Fruit Tree. 

The Spirit of a Little Child. 

Prayer for Help. 

A Model: Joseph. 

As a Son. 

As a Brother. 

In Temptation. 

As a Pious Man. 

CHAPTER IX. 
A Bad Name 99 

A Bad Character. 

A Bad Reputation. 

A Bad Reputation as a Damage. 

Permanence of a Bad Reputation. 

One Peculiarity of a Bad Reputation. 

Evil Communications. 

CHAPTER X. 
Upward Aims 123 

It makes one Economical of Time. 

It makes one Vigilant for Special Opportunities. 

It Furnishes an Object to be Attained. 

It Invigorates the Faculties. 



CONTENTS. 5 

CHAPTEE XL 

The Noblest Aim 134 

Two Cases in Point. 
The Question Answered, 
Moses and Paul. 
Other Illustrations. 

CHAPTEE XII. 
How Shall I Become a Christian? 157 

The New Heart. 

Who makes the New Creature. 

Human Agencies. 

What must I Do? 

Some Suggestions. 

Get Clear Views of your Eeal Character and Danger. 

Get Clear Views of the Help Needed. 

Pray for Help and Eely on Christ Alone. 

CHAPTEE XIII. 
Signs of the Change 195 

Internal Evidences. 

The Truly Converted delights in God's Character. 

Desires to do God's Will. 

Follows Employment which God Approves. 

Desires to be Pure in Heart. 

Has a Tender Love for Christ. 

Loves all Men according to God's Will. 

Has a Special Love for Christian Believers. 
External Evidences. 

A True Convert will Strive to do God's Will. 

Exercises Self-denial for Christ's sake. 

Publicly Professes Christ. 

Will be Likely to have Peace in God. 
1* 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEK XIV. 

Childhood and Manhood 225 

The Inner Life and Christian Manhood. 

It involves Self-knowledge. 

Carefiil Thought on the Work to be Done. 

Helps and Hindrances. 

Meditation on the Keward. 

The Examples of Saints. 

Communion with God. 
The Outer Life and Christian Manhood. 

A Life of Active Duty. 

Public Worship of God. 

Family Worship. 

Secret W T orship. 

CHAPTEE XV. 
Active Duty 255 

An Open Profession. 
Works of Faith. 

Tries to Glorify God by a Consistent Life. 

Tries to Win Souls to Christ. 

Denies Himself for Christ. 

For Christ's Sake he must Promote Good of Society in 
every Way he can. 
Important Directions. 

Must Sanctify the Sabbath. 

Must identify himself with Christians. 

Must have one Church Home. 

CHAPTEK XVI. 
The Conclusion of the Whole Matter 283 



PKEFACE 



To win the young to a life of virtue and happi- 
ness by winning them to the cross is the main pur- 
pose of these pages. If it shall seem to some that 
undue prominence has been given to the external 
virtues and their contrasted vices, let it be answered 
that this is an important means of leading one to see 
precisely what he is and what he needs. As this 
volume is given to the press for the instruction of 
young people, it is with the prayer to Him who 
alone can give the increase, and whose alone is "the 
excellency of the power," that he may own the 
work and bless it in its mission. 

Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind. 
March 12, 1870. 



THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 




CHAPTER I. 

LOST THE WAY. 

YOUNG man at the West was once mak- 
\<* ing his way through the forest to a farm 
t v some miles distant. The day was cloudy, 
' and in a little time he became bewildered 
and lost. He could not tell which way was east, 
or which was north, or whether he was going to- 
ward home or away from it. The sensation is 
not an agreeable one, as those know who have 
experienced it. Suppose some skillful woodman 
had previously told the young man the curious 
fact that " the moss is to be observed on the north 
side of forest trees" that here was a guide which 
the Indians and hunters will follow for miles and 
not be deceived. Ought not the young man in 



10 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

such a case to look for this guide to determine his 
direction by finding out which way was north ? 
Or suppose his father had put in his hands a little 
pocket compass, telling him if he were ever lost 
in the woods to consult that honest guide which 
always pointed north, now that he is lost ought 
he not to do as he was told ? 

The young are just entering a world in which 
a great many people have " lost their way" in a 
sadder sense than the young man lost his in the 
woods. 

For example, a certain strong-minded man had 
fallen into skeptical society. He was a man of 
great mechanical ingenuity and he had read many 
books, "but as concerning the faith he had 
made shipwreck." As the years passed away his 
skepticism increased, and yet his success in busi- 
ness engrossed his mind too much to allow him 
to see whither he was tending. At last he gave 
up business to enjoy his old age undisturbed by 
the distractions which hitherto had made up so 
large a part of his life. With leisure came an 
unwelcome visitor in the form of anxiety about 
the future. " What am I ? Is there a state of 
existence beyond the grave? Is death the end 
of man? Whither am I going?" Such ques- 



LOST THE WAY. 11 

tions as these gave him trouble, and he was as 
much bewildered and lost as one could be in the 
trackless forests of Canada. He had thrown 
away, or at least ceased to feel confidence in, 
the only compass that ever yet was a safe guide 
to man, and now in his old age he was wandering 
about in a distracted way, like a lost man, not 
knowing what to do or whither to go. 

Another man, whose faith in Christianity and 
in the Bible had been insidiously undermined by 
a companion, when the shadows of life's afternoon 
began to lengthen said to a friend : " I would give 
all I have to believe the Bible to be God's book, 
but I cannot." He said it sadly and not cap- 
tiously, and as he spoke his friend thought of one 
who has lost his way and is unable to find it. 

Sometimes we see a man so completely bewil- 
dered as in a sort of blind despair to cast himself 
into the arms of the Papal Church. The father 
of such an one originally was a member of a 
Congregational church, but left it for another 
communion in which his son was educated. All 
the influences about him apparently were of a 
kind to help him onward in life and usefulness. 
After he was ordained the writings of the " Fath- 
ers" eclipsed the Bible, and the essential truths 



12 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

of Christianity were covered by the unessential 
forms of the church. He became a churchman 
of the "straitest sect." The comm\mion-taMe 
in his church was displaced by an altar. His 
sermons, and all the services which he conduct- 
ed, were a grief to his brethren. His bishop 
mourned over him as he rebuked him, but it 
was all in vain. Secretly he consulted a priest 
of Rome and was admitted into that Church. 
He was an example of one form of losing the 
way. 

Many years ago there was a man in one of our 
country churches whose deportment for years was 
unexceptionable, but at last he became infected 
with infidel notions. He passed through all the 
grades of skepticism, and was as restless in one 
as in another. He sneered and denounced and 
argued to keep up his courage, and did what he 
could to unsettle the faith of others. As old age 
came on his heart was not satisfied, and he adopt- 
ed the flimsy and fanciful notions of Sweden borg. 
Every step he took from the time he began to 
doubt God's Word until he died seemed to say, 
" I have lost my way." 

A young man left his home in the country for 
a residence in the city. By the influence of com- 



LOST THE WAY. 13 

panions he gave up the Bible, forsook the church, 
profaned the Sabbath, visited drinking-saloons, 
gambling-houses and places more infamous. At 
last he became horribly diseased, and was brought 
home a frightful-looking object. Desperate at 
his situation, one day he put a pistol to his head 
and blew his brains out. To some who looked at 
him in his coffin and thought of his history his 
dead lips seemed to say, with an articulation 
audible at least to the heart, "I have lost my 
way." 

We sometimes meet men who are consumed 
with the appetite for rum, and, as one indulgence 
goads them on to another, until they seem utterly 
reckless of the interest of themselves or others, 
and even hardened against the thoughts of death 
and perdition, we may say of them also, " They 
have lost their way." 

In the newer regions of our country we find 
people who once were active members of some 
Christian church, but they found no churches at 
the West and had not force enough to establish 
them for themselves. The Sabbath gradually be- 
came a neglected day, the sacred time was de- 
voted to pleasure or business, the family altar was 
abandoned, the Bible neglected and the great in- 

2 



14 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

terests of religion laid aside. "With no exaggera- 
tion we may say of such : " They have lost their 
way." 

We sometimes see young men at our academies 
and colleges who have been trained with care and 
solicitude at home. With no little self-denial 
and expense, hard to be met in many cases, they 
have been sent thither to be fitted for some pro- 
fession. But they were discouraged by the diffi- 
culties they met and neglected their studies. 
Idleness won for them undesirable companions 
who led them into temptation. Dissipation and 
mischief were carried so far, in spite of the 
warnings of their teachers, that at last they 
were sent home in disgrace or finally expelled. 
What better expression can we use in describ- 
ing such than by saying : " They have lost their 
way?" 

If any one who reads these pages will turn to a 
subsequent chapter concerning " a bad name," he 
will find many suggestions concerning the ways 
in which thousands are ruined in character and 
reputation, and see that to every such case we ap- 
ply this description : " He has lost his way." As 
referring to those mistakes which the young make 
in the plans and doings of life, in matters per- 



LOST THE WAY. 15 

taining to their well-being in this life and the life 
to come, the interests of faith and eternal salva- 
tion, the words which stand at the head of this 
chaj)ter are very suggestive : 

" LOST THE WAY !" 







CHAPTER 11 




A GUIDE-BOOK NEEDED. 

X OW can a young man avoid the danger of 
losing the way? Or if he have lost it, 
how may he find it ? 

A stranger in Boston was endeavoring 
one morning to find his way to the Lowell depot, 
but after walkii?^ a long distance, he inquired of 
a gentleman, who told him that he had lost his 
way, and then very courteously went with him 
far enough to ensure his finding the place. Sup- 
pose the stranger had desired to go to certain 
places in Boston, and that some friend had put in 
his hands a reliable map of the city. Suppose he 
had described the route he was to follow, and then 
told him, " If you lose your way, you must refer 
to the map." What better direction could he 
have given? The stranger attempts to thread 
his way through the irregular streets, but soon 
finds he has lost his way. He now opens his 

16 



A GUIDE-BOOK NEEDED. 17 

map, and by comparing it with the names of the 
streets on the street-corners, determines where he 
is and which way he must go to reach the place 
he is seeking. But what would you say of him, 
if, having lost his way, he should not consult his 
map, nor ask those who knew how to guide him, 
but should go heedlessly on as if by some chance 
he would find the place ? 

Some years ago a gentleman was about to cross 
a range of mountains by a route which was not 
very plain, nor were there people there to inform 
him if he should get away from the right path. 
A friend who was familiar with the way drew a 
map for him. At a certain point he w r ould find 
three roads. He must take the middle one. 
Farther on he would come to certain "cross- 
roads," and he must turn to the left. And thus 
he put down every point at which the traveler 
was liable to lose his road, with explicit directions 
which could not be mistaken by a careful obser- 
ver. In this case the gentleman had no difficulty 
in finding his road, because he examined his little 
guide-book. But suppose he had put it into his 
pocket, and never once examined it ; ought he to 
have been surprised to find himself lost among 

the mountains ? 

2* B 



18 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

Or suppose a ship-master is making a voyage. 
He is furnished with the best charts, compass, 
chronometer, sextant and other means of deter- 
mining his position on the ocean. If he will, he 
can easily tell whether he is nearing sunken reefs 
or an island, whether he is on the right course or 
not. What will you say of him if he never ex- 
amines his chart, never looks at his compass, or 
takes an observation, or measures his speed, but 
shakes out his sails, and lets his ship drive 
whither she will, expecting she shall as a matter 
of course reach the port whither she is bound ? 

In the affairs of this life, men are not usually 
guilty of such folly. If a traveler is to cross a 
range of mountains where he is liable to lose his 
way, he seeks the most explicit directions and 
tries to follow them. The accomplished ship- 
master would as soon fire his vessel as neglect 
his reckonings. 

Life is often called a journey. Is there no 
guide-book containing explicit directions to those 
who are setting out upon it? It is called a voyage. 
The young are just commencing it. Many have 
been wrecked and lost. Is there no chart by 
which they may learn how to escape the dangers 
of this life-voyage ? 



CHAPTER III. 

THE GUIDE-BOOK FOUND. 




f^HERE has been no lack of guide-books 



for those making the momentous journey 
toward " the undiscovered country" whose 
(^ hither boundary is the grave. Which of 
them is reliable ? We occasionally hear of ships 
being wrecked on sunken reefs not mentioned in 
the charts. Which of these many guide-books 
gives all the information that we need in our 
journey to the eternal world? Which of these 
many charts maps out the course we are to pursue 
in order to reach the port in safety ? There is 
but one answer : The Bible is that guide-book — 
the Bible is that chart. 

Many people speak lightly of "the doctrines" 
of the Bible, as if they were lifeless skeletons 
wired together with a kind of dead logic. Per- 
haps the peculiar doctrines of one Church and an- 

19 



20 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

other may be obnoxious to this charge, but the 
essential doctrines of the Bible are " life and 
power." The Bible teaches us the truth about 
God, about ourselves, about a Saviour and about 
salvation. The doctrines of repentance and faith, 
the work of the Holy Spirit and God's grace, are 
as essential to our spiritual welfare as air is /to our 
physical life. The more we examine the doctrines 
of the Bible, the clearer shall be our conviction 
that the Bible is in truth "the Booh:' 

But the Bible teaches by examples as well as by 
doctrines. It is a book of brilliant pictures, il- 
lustrating the beauty and safety of goodness and 
the hatefulness and danger of wickedness. Look 
at our first parents in the garden. How impress- 
ive the lesson to one who is tempted to do what 
God has forbidden ! Or look at Abraham, by 
the direction of God going to a strange country, 
" not knowing whither he went," or his obedience 
in going to the mount which God showed him to 
sacrifice his only son Isaac. Here is faith taught 
by facts in the life of this " father of the faithful." 
Or look at Moses, rescued from death by the faith 
of his godly parents, and while he was an hon- 
ored member of the Egyptian court, being called 
not the servant, but "the son of Pharaoh's 



THE GUIDE-BOOK FOUND. 21 

daughter/' yet choosing to suffer affliction with 
the people of God. Here is an example which it 
is safe to commend to the young. 

And thus by examination we find this book 
full of the examples of good men and bad men, 
all of which seem to say to the young — 

" Enter not into the path of the wicked, 

" And go not in the way of evil men. 

" Avoid it, pass not by it. 

" Turn from it and pass away. 

" For they sleep not, except they have done 
mischief. 

"And their sleep is taken away unless they 
cause some to fall. . . . 

"But the path of the just is as the shining 
light, 

" That shineth more and more unto the per- 
fect day." 

In respect to its examples, where is the book to 
be compared with the Bible ? 

It also supplies the most powerful motives to 
right action. Every page is full of motives, ad- 
dressed to us as spiritual and immortal beings. 
How truthful and thrilling its views of this life 
as a " vapor," " an handbreadth" or " a flower of 
the field V s How weighty its declaration about 



22 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

the world to come, when " these shall go away 
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous 
into life eternal I" How powerfully does it describe 
the loss of the soul, " where the worm dieth not 
and the fire is not quenched !" And how sweetly 
does it seek to win us to Christ and heaven by 
telling us of the place where " the wicked cease 
from troubling and the weary be at rest !" 

No book is so full of motives inclining us to 
forsake the way of sin and follow the way to ho- 
liness and heaven. Here it is, a book of over a 
thousand pages, each of which speaks to us in be- 
half of God, saying to us : " Work out your own 
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God 
which worketh in you both to will and to do of 
his good pleasure." Such a book is a safe guide 
to follow. 

But the chief characteristic of the Bible is that 
it tells us of Jesus, the Saviour of sinners. Look 
into the other guide-books and we find no Sa- 
viour. That we are sinners is very evident, and 
we ask, " What shall we do ?" There are many 
answers to this great question, but not one so sat- 
isfactory as this : " Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and thou shalt be saved." This book tells 
us that " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us 



THE GUIDE-BOOK FOUND. 23 

from all sins/' and that " being justified by faith 
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ." 

Besides these higher considerations, there is no 
book which describes the right courses and the 
wrong courses of life with such accuracy as the 
Bible. He who follows the rules laid down in 
this book will never lie, or steal, or swear pro- 
fanely, or commit adultery, or bear false witness, 
or do anv other act offensive to God and hurtful 
to himself and the community. There is no hon- 
est business, there is no right social development, 
there is no kind of well-being in this life, the in- 
terests of which are not promoted by the com- 
mands of this book. This is a glorious wonder, 
making it to be for our good to do what this book 
enjoins, even if our existence did not reach be- 
yond this life. As a directory of human action, 
the Bible is as superior to every uninspired book, 
not deriving its ideas from this source, as the sun 
is superior to a firefly. 

In all respects this book is worthy of the most 
careful examination, and no young person can 
safely neglect this plain duty : " Search the Scrip- 
tures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, 
and they are they which testify of Me." 




CHAPTER IV. 

A GREAT FAULT. 

NE of the great faults of our day is the 
neglect of the Holy Scriptures. More 
than three hundred years ago (A. D. 1538) 
the English Bible, translated by Tyndale, 
was given to the English nation by public edict, 
and the annalist Strype records its reception by 
the people in the following memorable words : 

" It was wonderful to see with what joy this 
book of God was received not only among the 
learneder sort, but generally all England over, 
among all the vulgar and common people, and 
with what greediness God's Word was read, and 
what resort to places where the reading of it 
was. Everybody that could bought the book or 
busily read it, or got others to read it to them, if 
they could not themselves. Divers more elderly 
people learned to read on purpose, and even little 

24 



A GREAT FAULT. 25 

boys flocked among the rest to hear portions of 
the Holy Scriptures read." 

And well might they be thus eager to read 
God's Word in English if what Cranmer said of 
it in his preface to the " Bible in English" in 
1539 was true : 

" Here may all manner of persons, men and 
women, young and old, learned and unlearned, 
rich, poor, priests, laymen, lords, ladies, officers, 
tenants and mean men, virgins, wives, widows, 
lawyers, merchants, artificers, husbandmen, and 
all manner of persons of whatsoever estate or 
condition soever they be, in this book learn all 
things — what they ought to believe, what they 
ought to do, what they should not do, as well 
concerning almighty God as also concerning 
themselves and all others." 

It is a fault of our age that the Bible is not as 
eagerly read as in some former generations. Un- 
doubtedly it is in the hands of more people than 
ever before, and in a certain way it is studied by 
more people, but is not the eager search, the 
strong relish of former generations wanting 
among us ? Bibles have been multiplied a thou- 
sand fold, and Christian benevolence has put 
"the book" within the reach of the poorest. 

3 



26 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

But the printing-press has not been idle in pro- 
ducing other books. How vast the increase of 
books of history, philosophy, science, theology, 
poetry and other useful and valuable kinds! 
Who has not felt his own insignificance and the 
brevity of his life as he has stood in the midst of 
a great library from whose shelves there looked 
down upon him the thousands of books which 
have been written by the wise and learned of 
past generations ! One would need to live a 
thousand years to read all the really good books 
which have been written. But even these in our 
day are eclipsed by books and reading matter of 
another sort. The press is flooding the present 
generation with every kind of " light reading/' 
It prints, in numbers like the leaves of autumn, 
the novel and the novelette, the romance in verse 
and prose, and every sort of book and paper to 
amuse people. Besides these, and overshadowing 
them, we have the newspaper, which penetrates 
myriads of dwellings, carrying thither their prin- 
cipal reading. In 1850 the census of the United 
States presented the following facts : There were 
2526 different newspapers and periodicals, the 
number of whose subscribers was 5,183,017, 
among whom were circulated each year 426,409,- 



A GREAT FAULT. 27 

978 copies! In 1860 there were 4051 newspa- 
pers, and their circulation amounted to 928,000,- 
000 copies! That is, in ten years the number 
was doubled. 

It has come to pass, in this increase of light 
books and of newspapers, that multitudes of 
readers are very slightly acquainted with the 
really valuable books within their reach. The 
reason is plain. They read a book for amuse- 
ment and not for mental and moral growth j they 
read the newspaper for the same reason that they 
listen to a village gossip. In this greediness for 
the newspaper and the book of amusement, really 
good books must remain very much neglected in 
the background. It is impossible to read a daily 
newspaper with any care, and a tithe of the new 
w r orks of fiction even of the best class, and yet 
have much time for more substantial reading. 
This is true of men of leisure, and how much 
more true must it be of those who labor ! 

But the saddest result of these countless publi- 
cations just named is not that they eclipse the 
masters of Greece and Eome, the grand old 
books in our own language, Bacon and Newton, 
Shakspeare and Milton, Gibbon and Hume, and 
such like; the rich books of a later day — Macaulay 



28 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

and Bancroft, and Prescott and Motley, and Irv- 
ing and a hundred others. That the books of 
such writers should be placed in the shade is bad 
enough, but not so bad as that the Bible should 
be overshadowed by this pernicious literature, 
which, like fogs, obscures this glorious sun which 
God placed in the heavens to give light to the 
world. It is to be feared that thousands do not 
read the Bible at all, and that other thousands 
give it only a very superficial and hasty perusal. 

The fault here described is as unjustifiable as 
if a mariner should have the most reliable charts 
and nautical instruments, and yet should either not 
consult them at all or do it very carelessly and 
infrequently. There is no other book concerning 
whose commandments and statutes it may truly 
be said, "More to be desired are they than gold, 
yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey 
and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is thy 
servant warned, and in keeping of them there is 
great reward." 




CHAPTER V. 

HEARING. 

UE, blessed Lord repeatedly speaks to us 
about hearing : " He that hath ears to hear, 
let him hear;" "Take heed what ye hear;" 
" Take heed therefore how ye hear." Hear- 
ing implies a speaker, and therefore the exhorta- 
tion has a threefold meaning — take heed whom 
ye hear, take heed what ye hear and take heed 
how ye hear. 

WHOM TO HEAR. 

Thousands are ready to take heed to what 
Satan says who have no ears to hear when God 
speaks. Eve believed not God, who said, "Ye 
shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest 
ye die;" but she did believe Satan when he said, 
" Ye shall not surely die." In this very singular 
line of conduct many of the descendants of Eve 
have borne a very striking resemblance to her. 

3* 29 



30 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

When Jesus Christ speaks, all should hear. 
From the overshadowing cloud a divine voice 
said of Christ, " This is my beloved Son in whom 
I am well pleased, hear ye him." So also 
spake an Apostle: "See that ye refuse not Him 
that speaketh ; for if they escaped not who refused 
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we 
escape if we turn away from him that speaketh 
from heaven." If Jesus Christ is the Son of God, 
if he took on him our nature and suffered for our 
sins, then ought we to give diligent heed to him 
when he speaks. 

But all should take heed as to the religious 
teachers they hear. A corrupt tree cannot bring 
forth good fruit ; a religious teacher whose life is 
immoral cannot be a safe expounder of religious 
truth. This was an argument which the hypo- 
crites could not withstand when Christ was in 
the world, and it was the sharp-edged sword which 
Luther wielded against such religious teachers as 
Tetzell. Any immoral man who teaches false 
religion in the bar-room, or workshop, or field, 
should be avoided as a leper whose touch is not 
merely pollution but death. In a small village 
there was such a teacher whose wit drew around 
him certain young men, and though he has been 



HEARING. 31 

dead many years, they, with scarce an exception, 
are to this day bound hand and foot with the 
pernicious skepticism which he taught them. 

But when a good man preaches or teaches the 
wholesome truths of God's word we should 
take heed to hear him, for he comes to us with a 
message from the Lord, and his words may be- 
come life and peace to us. Take heed whom ye 
hear. 

WHAT TO HEAE. 

But the second direction is not less important : 
Take heed what ye hear. The human soul is 
susceptible of deep and lasting impressions 
through hearing. A single remark may turn a 
soul toward heaven or toward hell. A very ex- 
cellent minister traces his conversion to hearing 
a single exclamation addressed to him by a de- 
voted Christian. The searching discourse of the 
evening had not moved him, but when the good 
man laid his hand on his shoulder and said " 
Eli!" with emotion so deep that he could go no 
farther, he had winged an arrow into that hard 
heart. 

Ordinarily, however, the results of hearing are 
gradual. The instructions of a pious parent are 
often like buried seed. Thus too the counsels of 



32 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

a pastor may not yield fruit at once, but the 
promise is that he "" that goeth forth and weepeth, 
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again 
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." But 
whether the results of hearing be instantaneous 
or gradual matters not. Therefore let the young 
take heed to hear the Bible. 

Some men, and even some very young men, 
discourse flippantly on the high themes of religion 
and immortality in our stores and bar-rooms; 
they denounce this doctrine and approve that; 
they adjudicate the claims of this book and of 
that to the attention of mankind, and very 
learnedly pronounce the Bible an imposture! A 
young mechanic in a certain village who has 
education enough barely to reckon up his small 
accounts, and who has never read one quarter of 
the book, will hold a crowd of young men listen- 
ing to his denunciations of that Book. A great 
many people of diversified gifts — the learned and 
the ignorant, the witty and the stupid, the high 
and the low — have tried to smother out the light 
of that one Book, to make the world believe it to 
be a worthless book, a false book, a bad book. 
But they have not succeeded in their efforts ; for 
to-day that glorious old Book smiles on the pig- 



HEAEING. 33 

mies who have sought to destroy it, as surely as 
Mont Blanc would on the same feeble creatures 
should they try to uproot him from his everlast- 
ing foundations. That old Book speaks to all a 
message well worth their heeding. It speaks of 
God, oh how solemnly! How it speaks of the 
undying soul, destined to be for ever with the 
Lord or to dwell in everlasting burning ! How 
it describes sin as odious to God, and destructive 
of happiness in this world and in that which is 
to come ! How that old Book speaks of the 
love of God in Christ ! How solemnly it speaks 
about hell! How sweetly does it speak about 
heaven ! Shall we stop our ears against this 
Book which speaks such things with authority, 
and give heed to the clashing opinions and the 
unsustained guesses of uninspired men who reject 
the Bible? 

" This is the judge that ends the strife 
When wit and reason fail ; 
My guide to everlasting life 
Through all this gloomy vale." 

In our day the vast majority of authors write 

to amuse mankind. Thousands of public speakers 

have no higher aim than to tickle their hearers, 

who in turn have no higher wish than to be 

c 



34 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

tickled. In contrast with this, the Bible is a very 
earnest booh. There is not one jest or trifling 
word in the eleven hundred pages of the Bible. 
The proclamation of God's law was not made to 
amuse mankind, as the trembling multitudes by 
Mount Sinai plainly showed. Solemn as the 
judgment-day, the Bible sketched in fire the Law 
as showing what Jehovah commands us to be and 
to do. i 

" But thanks be unto God for his unspeakable 
gift !" If the Law is a holy Law which can only 
work wrath to the sinner, the Bible speaks of the 
" glorious gospel of the blessed God." It tells 
how God loved the world, and "that it is a faithful 
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 
It invites the starving to the gospel feast, the 
thirsty to the living water, the hell-deserving to 
Christ. There is nothing in this gospel that is 
not perfectly glorious. It reveals God in Christ 
gloriously reconciling the world unto himself. It 
offers to perishing sinners a glorious salvation. It 
is nothing less than " the glorious gospel of the 
blessed God." " Take heed what ye hear." 
Bad men may amuse us with ribald jests on holy 
things, infidels may amuse us with awful triflings, 



HEARING. 35 

eloquent men may discourse to us about this 
thing and that thing, but let us turn away 
from them to heed the gospel. How solemn are 
the words of Jesus himself ! " Whosoever hear- 
eth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will 
liken him unto a wise man, which built his house 
upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the 
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon 
that house, and it fell not, for it w 7 as founded upon 
a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings 
of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened 
unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the 
sand. And the rain descended, and the floods 
came, and the w T inds blew, and beat upon that 
house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." 
Take heed that ye hear "the glorious gospel of 
the blessed God," which shall assuredly prove 
unto you either the savor of life unto life or of 
death unto death. 

HOW TO HEAR. 

If a man were very sick he ought not only to 
employ a physician, but give attentive heed to his 
advice. Hence we ought to hear religious truth 
as if our lives depended on it Listlessness in hear- 
ing the messages of heaven is both criminal and 



36 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

foolish, yet how many are guilty of it! God 
tells us that as sinners we are sinking to hell, and 
yet we hear listlessly. God tells us that Jesus 
Christ died to save us from our sins and from 
hell, but we hear this truth listlessly. A listless 
hearer of truths awful as hell, glorious as heaven ! 
What a strange being is man ! 

But we should hear with candor. You may 
look at a very beautiful landscape through a pane 
of red glass and the entire landscape shall look as 
if it were red. Prejudice imparts a false coloring 
to objects at which we look. It causes us to 
magnify the faults and to undervalue the virtues 
of the person against whom we entertain the 
feeling. Candor of spirit is to the soul what a 
clear, healthy eye is to the body. Religious 
prejudice is both odious and dangerous. It 
prompted the Jews to attribute the good deeds of 
Christ to Satan, and to construe his divine words 
when on trial into blasphemy. It led the Athen- 
ians to call Paul a babbler and the blessed gos- 
pel of God foolishness. In our religious concerns 
we risk our souls by indulging prejudice. Here 
we need a candid spirit. "Take heed how ye 
hear." 

We should hear also to learn the truth. Some 



HEARING. 37 

hear to be amused with fine and witty sayings or 
with eloquence, but such an object is unworthy of 
one who may be lost for ever. If one were very 
ill, he would not thank his physician for witty 
sayings or eloquent disquisitions, and the physi- 
cian would think his patient very foolish for ex- 
pecting such things from him. A sick man 
wishes to know what his disease is and what is 
the remedy. As sinful beings we need not 
amusement, but truth, and we should hear to learn 
the truth. The truth we should apply to our own 
case. Some hear for others, and have an inveter- 
ate habit of applying the truth to others. What 
should we think of an Israelite who had been bit- 
ten of a " fiery, flying serpent," who should say 
to his neighbors : " This proclamation of Moses 
is what you need"? but as for himself he never 
lifts his eyes to the brazen serpent ! A sinner 
who is under the wrath and curse of God has 
much more need to hear truth for himself than 
for others. 

We often meet with persons who seem to hear 
attentively and candidly, but who fail to apply 
the truth to their own souls. It is with them a 
matter of intellect and not of spiritual profit. The 
most awful doctrines of the Bible are to them but 

4 



38 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

little more than any facts recorded in profane 
history. They hear the most searching truths 
very much as David listened to Nathan's parable, 
seeming not to suspect that they themselves are 
the sinners who are described as so wicked and in 
such danger. It was a wise prayer of the Psalm- 
ist which we may well offer : " Search me, O God, 
and know my thoughts." 

But finally, we should hear the truth with a 
prayerful spirit. We are depraved beings and 
our prejudices against the truth are very strong. 
In this respect we are not candidly inclined, and 
in addition to this we are surrounded by many 
perverting influences. If God do not clarify our 
mental vision and open our hearts to receive the 
truth, we shall never be savingly benefited by 
any truth, however affectingly .or by whomsoever 
it may be spoken. Paul may plant and Apollos 
may water, but God must give the increase. 
Therefore, whenever we hear the truths of God's 
Word, our prayer should ascend to Him who giv- 
eth wisdom liberally to them that ask it, even 
as the Psalmist prayed : " Teach me thy way, O 
Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of 
mine enemies." 



CHAPTER VI. 




HABIT. 

AN the Ethiopian change his skin, or the 
leopard his spots ? Then may ye also do 
1 %j^ good that are accustomed to do evil." No 
fuller's soap can make the Ethiopian's 
skin white, and though the spots of the leopard 
should be dyed, in due time they would reappear. 
The prophet compares the bad habits of his 
countrymen to these fixed facts. We are not to 
understand that a sinner is no more to be blamed 
for his strong habits of sin than the Ethiopian 
for having a black skin, but that sinful habits are 
very hard to change — so hard that they are not 
likely to be changed without the grace of God. 



THE NATURE OF HABIT. 



Of one person we say, " His habits are good," 
and of another, " He has fallen into bad habits." 
We speak of punctuality as "a good habit," and 



39 



40 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

profane swearing as " a bad habit." The word 
" habit" is in constant use in the social and busi- 
ness intercourse of life. A parent wishes to em- 
ploy a teacher for his children, or a merchant a 
clerk, and each inquires into " the habits" of the 
candidate. One principal charm in biography- 
consists in the narration of the habits of those 
whose lives we are reading, and some of the 
most thrilling passages in history refer to the 
habits of such men as William the Silent, the 
Duke of Marlborough and Napoleon Bonaparte. 

What then is habit? Sometimes the derivation 
of a word throws light on its meaning. Habit is 
derived from a Latin word, and means "something 
had" that is, a possession which is not easily 
parted with, for instance, the Ethiopian's skin or 
the leopard's spots. 

But the same derivative gives us another shade 
of meaning which is also very striking. A habit 
is something worn. A man's clothes are his habit. 
Blend these two notions furnished by its deri- 
vation, and they give a very forcible meaning to 
the word. It is a condition of body, mind or 
heart which is like a fixed property, of which we 
cannot rid ourselves even though we may wish 
to do so. For instance, how firm, how inveterate 



HABIT. 41 

the drunkard's habit! How very hard it is to 
cast it off ! 

But habit is like a person's clothes. It is 
worn, it is visible, and it is that by which we 
know him. A person's habits are his outer gar- 
ments, which he always wears, and which others 
always see. They are not the rich, showy, bridal 
presents which are occasionally displayed, but 
they are garments worn all the time. These 
habits are permanent fixtures, which we always 
wear about us and by which we are known. Thus 
we know one man not by his rent-rolls, but by 
his hard-fisted, avaricious habits. We know 
another not by his reputed fortune, but by his 
habits of generosity and kindness. 

Look now at the nature of habit, in the light 
of the process by which it is formed. One has de- 
fined it to be "the effect of custom or frequent 
repetition." A wagon wheel running many times 
in the same place makes a rut. In this way ruts 
are worn even in very hard rocks. A stream of 
water flowing over the same reef of rocks will 
gradually wear for itself a channel. It is even so 
with habit. It is formed by the repetition of similar 
acts. Thus in the use of tobacco, rum and opium 

a habit is formed by taking the poison repeatedly. 
4* 



42 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

The most delicate female may, if she choose to 
do so, acquire the habit of chewing or smoking 
tobacco or drinking rum. 

Mental habits are formed in the same way. 
Some pupils avoid the hard parts of a lesson, and 
in due time this course ripens into a habit which 
will be very much like a mental weakness. Some 
persons form such a habit of reading fiction that 
the eloquent periods of Gibbon, the elaborate 
simplicity of Hume, the artless narration of Irv- 
ing, and even the unapproachable pages of Bible 
history, have not a single charm for them. This 
pernicious habit has as marked peculiarities as the 
habit of using tobacco or opium ; it destroys the 
memory, weakens the reason, blunts the affec- 
tions, incapacitates the whole being, until in some 
cases the victim of fiction becomes almost or 
quite an idiot. 

The same law prevails in moral habits. A 
gentleman once said of a third person, " He is so 
in the habit of lying that I do not think he can 
speak the truth." You sometimes hear it said 
of one person, "He will do just what he promised, 
because such is his habit," but of another person 
it is said, " His word is not to be relied on, for 
he is not in the habit of keeping his word." 



HABIT. 43 

In all these and many other cases the habit, 
whether good or bad, is formed by the repetition 
of acts. One dram does not make the habit of 
drunkenness, but it is the frequent repetition of the 
act which brings about the result. It is not the 
going to church on a single pleasant Sabbath 
morning which produces the habit of going to 
church. The gambler does not become such by 
one game of pitching pennies, or the purchase of 
one lottery-ticket, or by risking money once at the 
faro-bank or billiard-table, but by the repetition 
of such acts he begets in himself the rapacious 
and villainous disposition to win money which can 
only be won by robbery. The repetition of acts, 
whether good or bad, wears the channel deeper 
and deeper, and thus throws light on the nature 
of habit. 

There is one singular fact which throws light 
on the nature of habit. When any habit becomes 
confirmed, it becomes in a measure involuntary. 
The Rev. Dr. Ely, of Philadelphia, once related 
the fact that a converted sailor, who had been very 
profane, in telling his religious experience used a 
very profane and indecent expression to show 
how wicked a sinner he had been ! He used the 
oath involuntarily from the force of habit. Near 



44 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

the town of D , in Ohio, lived a man and his 

wife who had both been profane swearers. The 
wife was converted, and one night, apparently in 
agony about her husband, she entreated him to 
" go forward to the altar," and when he refused, 
she pressed the matter, involuntarily using one 
of the oaths to which she had been previously 
accustomed ! It was the force of habit, and this 
fact gave her a great deal of trouble and sorrow. 
A certain man who had been a confirmed sot for 
many years was converted, but to the day of his 
death he retained the motions and looks and 
ways which he had acquired when a drunkard. 
"We see this involuntariness of a confirmed habit 
in the peculiar phrases which some persons use in 
conversation; and the same is true of some offen- 
sive habit in persons who lead the devotion of 
others. The habit of sleeping, or lounging, or 
inattention in church is a sort of involuntary 
habit with some, which is like a deep rut, quite 
hard to get out of, or, like a deeply worn channel, 
very difficult to change. 

These illustrations are derived principally from 
habits which should be avoided, but the same 
general principle is true of those habits which 
should be acquired, with this difference, that 



HABIT. 45 

in our present condition it is easier to acquire 
bad habits than good ones, and that at the same 
time it seems to be far easier to change good 
habits than it is to change bad ones. 

Thus, in examining the nature of habit, we find 
it to be a fixed possession, not easily parted with 
and as constantly worn as our clothes. Its pro- 
cess of formation is by such a frequent repetition 
of similar acts that in time habit seems to become 
in a measure involuntary, and that it acts regu- 
larly and constantly. Such is its nature that it 
is proper to say some are temperate, others in- 
temperate, from habit; that some are honest and 
others dishonest from habit; that some follow the 
narrow road that leads to life, and others walk 
the broad road that leads to destruction, from 
habit. As soon as we are born, we begin to form 
habits, and from the mother's arms to the grave 
every moment and hour we verify the saying, 
" man is a bundle of habits." In a very import- 
ant sense habit is the centre and circumference, 
the beginning, the middle and the end of man. 

THE POWER OF HABIT. 

All that has been said of the nature of habit 
also illustrates its power, but let us look at this 



46 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND, 

point specifically. The Merrimac at Lowell has 
been turned into an artificial canal which furn- 
ishes water-power to the great manufactories of 
the city. The natural channel is rocky, and, 
especially in high water, the current is swift. 
For ages have the waters flowed along that chan- 
nel, wearing it deeper as the mountain freshets 
have poured through it to the sea. Enterprise 
has thrown a dam across that channel, yet the 
waters flow into the artificial channel by con- 
straint ; and should either the dam or the canal 
give away, the water would again seek its accus- 
tomed channel. 

This is a striking illustration of the power of 
habit. 

Here is the house in which lived and died a 
miser. He became very old, and as death drew 
on his sole pleasure was in handling his money. 
Just before he died he exclaimed, " Money is good 
enough, if we can only stay with it !" The moun- 
tain torrents had worn no deeper channel in the 
rock than the love of money had in that man's 
soul. When Napoleon was imprisoned at St. 
Helena, and when he was dying, his mind irre- 
sistibly ran upon those projects which had been 
the passions of his life. From boyhood until 



HABIT. 47 

death his immense mental forces had poured 
along this channel, and there was no power but 
God's that could have compelled them to run 
into a new channel. So was it with the miser. 
From the time that he loaned out his first dollar 
until God said to him, "Thou fool, this night shall 
thy soul be required of thee !" the entire energies 
of his body, mind and heart had been set on the 
acquisition of wealth, so that death found him 
still swayed by the habit which had governed 
his life. 

Illustrations are not wanting to show the 
power of vicious habit. When a certain member 
of Congress was entreated to abandon his cups, he 
made a reply which is in point : " Some can 
refrain from drinking, but they will not; I would 
refrain, but I cannot." How many drunkards 
bound hand and foot by this tremendous habit 
might say as one did say to his friend, " I wish 
to reform ; I know this habit is destroying me ; 
but there are times when it sweeps me along as a 
swollen river does a straw, and I am powerless to 
resist it !" Many years ago, in New Jersey lived 
a man of property, influence and respectability. 
He was an officer in a Christian church. One 
evening in the parsonage he burst into tears, as 



48 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

he said to his pastor, "I cannot keep from drink- 
ing, although I am disgracing my family, injur- 
ing the church and ruining myself!" And yet 
he repeated the sin again and again, until the 
pastor with choked utterance was compelled to 
read to a weeping assembly one Sabbath day the 
sentence excommunicating him from the church. 
He lived to be an old man, his conscience goaded 
him, and he was scared by the horrors of mania- 
a-potu and delirium tremens, but his drunken 
habit held him with a death-grip to the last. 

Could young men stand by a certain grave 
and call to life its occupant that he might tell 
them his experience — how he tasted rum because 
others did so; how the repetition of the act gradu- 
ally wore a channel in his nature through which 
his passionate appetite rushed, spurning control; 
how, moved by shame, by fear, by remorse and 
by natural affection, he strove to arrest and sub- 
due that awful habit; how he struggled to free 
himself, and yet again and again that habit like 
a swollen mountain torrent swept out the feeble 
obstacles placed in its way, and how at last it 
bore him to the grave, — could such an one rise 
from the dead and tell young men his experience, 
they would realize the tremendous power of a 



HABIT. 49 

vicious habit. Is not this tragedy of horrible 
experiences enacted in the life of thousands of 
drunkards? And yet will young men pursue the 
same dangerous process which has reduced these 
drunkards to their present condition ? 

Good habits are very powerful also. George W. 
Olney, a student in Lane Seminary, was remark- 
able for his prompt performance of every duty. 
When he was dying he fancied the time had come 
for him to be away to his Sabbath-school in the 
city. It required four young men to keep him 
on his bed. " Oh/' he exclaimed so piteously, 
" do let me go to my Sabbath-school !" That was 
the last word he spoke, and it showed how strong 
was the habit he had formed of doing his duty 
promptly. It was only a few weeks after this 
that another lovely Christian died in the same 
seminary. For sixteen weeks had he been sick. 
His sufferings were peculiar in their nature and 
intensity, and by them he was wasted to a skele- 
ton. He had an exquisite gift for music. Often 
he would become highly excited as his choir of 
trained singers uttered the melodies of Handel 
and Mendelssohn. When he was dying he sent 
for his choir and bade them sing some of his fav- 
orite harmonies. As they sung his eye lit up, his 
5 D 



50 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

lips quivered, his frame trembled. For many 
years the singing of God's praises had been his 
daily habit, and now that he was dying he would 
have his soul encouraged and borne on the wings 
of holy song to the place where an innumerable 
company are singing that " new song." 

When Joseph, pressed with the temptation by 
which many strong men have been slain, repelled 
it with horror, exclaiming : " How can I do this 
great wickedness and sin against God ?" he show- 
ed how powerful the habit of virtue may become. 
So also when the aged apostle, borne by others 
into the assemblies of Christians, lifted his 
hands and said, "Little children, love one 
another," he showed the prevailing power of 
that habit which won for him the name of " the 
disciple whom Jesus loved." 

Good habits are strong. They have been chart 
and compass to many young men leaving home to 
adventure on the broad sea of life. A certain 
boy, having lost his father, clung with strong affec- 
tion to his mother. To lift her from poverty to 
comfort became the moving principle of his heart. 
He went to a neighboring city, but to every temp- 
tation which beset him, this habit of thinking of 
his mother's welfare presented a shield. It spur- 




"What Came of a Kite-Strin< 



Page 51 



HABIT. 51 

red him on to his duty with such fidelity that his 
employer at last gave him a share in his business. 
His first earnings were given to his mother, and 
the first investment he ever made in real estate 
was in the purchase of a beautiful home for her. 
He is an example which may be safely imitated 
by such as are yet so happy as to have mothers 
still within the reach of filial kindness. 

The young will appreciate these considerations 
at a later period more fully perhaps than now. 
They think of their single acts as trifling, and as 
having no important bearing on their future des- 
tiny. But they could hardly make a greater or more 
fatal mistake. A few years ago a man stood on the 
brink of the precipice below the Palls of Niagara. 
He sent up a kite into the air to which was attach- 
ed a small cord. As it ascended it bore that small 
cord across the chasm. To this was then attached 
a larger cord, which was in its turn drawn across, 
and after this a single wire, then another and 
another, until of these little single wires the arch- 
itect had constructed two cables of such strength 
as to bear up a bridge on which heavy trains of 
cars safely pass. And this wonderful result may 
be traced back to a little kite-string as its origin ! 
It is even so in habits. Let the young beware of 



52 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

little things, for through them grow habits strong 
as iron. 

The following words of self-history from the 
pen of Charles Lamb confirm with terrible em- 
phasis this view of the power of habit : 

" I wept, because I thought of my own condi- 
tion. Of that there is no hope; the waters have 
gone over me. But if out of the black depth I 
could be heard, I would cry out to all those who 
have set foot on the accursed flood. Could the 
youth, to whom the flavor of his first wine is de- 
lusive as the opening scenes of life or the enter- 
ing upon some newly-discovered Paradise, look 
into my desolation, and be made to understand 
what a dreary thing it is when a man shall feel 
himself going down a precipice with his eyes 
open and a passive will ; to see his destruction 
and have no power to stop it, and yet to feel it 
all the way emanating from himself; to perceive 
all goodness emptied out of him, and yet not be 
able to forget a time when it was otherwise ; to 
bear about the piteous spectacle of his own self- 
ruin ; could he see my fevered eye, feverish with 
last night's drinking, and feverishly looking for- 
ward to this night's repetition of the folly; could 
he feel the body of the death out of which I cry 



HABIT.' 53 

hourly with feebler and feebler outcry to be de- 
livered, — it were enough to make him dash the 
sparkling beverage to the earth in all the pride 
of its mantling temptation, to make him clasp 
his teeth, 

and not undo 'em, 



To suffer not wet damnation to run through 'em.' " 
RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR HABITS. 

The Bible teaches us that we are responsible for 
the habits we form. Thus, in connection with the 
inquiry, a Can the Ethiopian change his skin?" 
is this declaration, " Therefore will I scatter them 
as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of 
the wilderness." Abraham asked, " Shall not 
the Judge of all the earth do right ?" but would 
God scatter these men like stubble by a violent 
wind for doing what they could not avoid doing, 
for having a habit of sin for which they were no 
more responsible than the Ethiopian is for hav- 
ing a dark skin ? This of itself is sufficient to 
prove that God holds men responsible for their 
habits. They are not in his sight helpless ma- 
chines, neither to be condemned for forming bad 
habits nor to be praised for forming good habits. 
If we take any prohibition or any promise of 

5* 



54 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

God's word, we find that it hinges on this idea 
of moral responsibility. Thus the habit of 
avarice is alluded to: "Woe unto them that join 
house to house, that lay field to field." But why 
denounce a woe on the avaricious if they are not 
responsible for this most terrible habit of loving 
money? So also the woe pronounced against 
drunkards implies the same principle : " Woe 
unto them that rise up early in the morning, that 
they may follow strong drink ; that continue 
until night, till wine inflame them !" Indeed, 
if we deny this personal responsibility for the 
habits we form, the commands, the threatenings, 
the promises and the entreaties which the Scrip- 
tures address to us might as reasonably be 
addressed to the uncouth images of a heathen 
temple. Hence that thrilling sentence, which 
has sometimes been quoted by lovers of plea- 
sure, speaks thus to the young man, " Rejoice, O 
young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer 
thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the 
ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; 
but know thou that for all these things God will 
bring thee into judgment." 

But the same responsibility is also seen in the 
nature of habit as formed by the repetition of 



HABIT. 55 

similar acts. If any bad habit were formed by a 
single act — for instance, if the drinking of rum 
once formed the habit of drunkenness — then 
there might be many cases which could be traced 
to mere indiscretion. Or, on the other hand, if 
one could believe that he was not a free agent in 
the formation of a bad habit, then he ought to 
feel no more sense of guilt for forming that habit 
than a locomotive does for running off the track 
by reason of a misplaced switch or a broken rail. 

But our consciousness tells us that we cannot 
trace our bad habits either to indiscretion or the 
lack of natural power as free agents. Suppose 
that a young man has never seen a drunkard, 
and that he is entirely ignorant of the effects of 
intoxicating liquors. He knows nothing of these 
effects either from experience, observation, books 
or any other source. Should that young man 
find and drink a bottle of wine, and thus become 
intoxicated, you might charge that first act 
against him as an indiscretion. He has now 
some knowledge on the subject. He remembers 
that the liquor first made him cheerful, then 
mirthful, then boisterous and then deadly sick. 
When he was recovering from the effects of his 
debauch he felt wretched, but in due time he 



56 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

was restored. Suppose him, Math this knowledge, 
to find another bottle of the same liquor, do you 
not see that he can no longer plead ignorance if 
he again drink ? Once he has " looked on the 
wine when it was red, when it gave his color in 
the cup," and once it has bitten him "like a 
serpent," and " stung him like an adder." For 
Mm to drink now is not an indiscretion, but a sin 
of presumption. 

If this be so, what shall we say of the young 
man who forms the habit of intemperance in our 
day, when experience, observation, books and 
living witnesses warn him against strong drink? 
That drunkard who dragged his wife into the 
storm when she was sick, so that in a week she 
was dead, that drunkard who died in unspeak- 
able terror, shrieking, "I see the devil," that 
drunkard who at a certain depot staggered under 
the cars and was crushed to death, — these and all 
other drunkards once had faces as ruddy, eyes as 
clear, limbs as strong, health as firm, as any 
young man who may read these pages. How did 
their faces become blistered, their eyes red, their 
limbs trembling, their health broken ? Each one 
drank once, and then drank again, and thus con- 
tinued to repeat the act of drinking until the 



HABIT. 57 

habit was formed. Each time the foolish man 
drank, he acted against experience, observation 
and warning. His habit sprang from presump- 
tion and not from indiscretion. 

Some young men speak of the temptations to 
drink which come upon them in the social circle 
as if they are not free to resist. These social 
temptations are very strong. The young espe- 
cially fear the contempt of their companions, and 
are strongly inclined to go wherever the current 
moves. To row against the stream is always irk- 
some, and this is a fair illustration of the "in- 
ability" of which the young sometimes complain. 
Look at the facts of drunkenness which are before 
the young men, and say whether they are dragged 
into the circle of temptation or whether they go 
there as free agents. Does the young man go 
because he cannot help it, or because he wishes 
to go? The answer is plain. But further, when 
he finds himself in such a place of danger, is he 
compelled to remain there? What would be- 
come of his inability if he learned that the small- 
pox prevailed there? He could then flee assur- 
edly. Or suppose the cup is pressed on his 
acceptance by a beautiful woman ! Here his 
danger is extreme, but even when tempted to 



58 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

drink by her, his conscience still whispers to him 
that he is a free agent and should bid the fair 
temptress away. It is a very strange fact that 
woman often becomes the instrument of over- 
coming the objections of young men to intoxicat- 
ing drinks. She suffers more from the intem- 
perance of men than the men themseves. If she 
be a daughter and sister, what suffering she en- 
dures in consequence of the drunkenness of a 
father or a brother ! If she be a wife or a mother, 
who can tell her anguish at the drunkenness of a 
husband or a son? Woman suffers more acute 
and unendurable troubles from intemperance 
than from any other social evil, and it is there- 
fore amazing that she should consent for any 
reason whatever to minister in the slightest de- 
gree to this custom which has cost her so much ! 
Yet if the most beautiful and fascinating of women 
should "kiss the brimming wine-cup with her own 
lips," and pass it to the young man, a temptress 
hard to resist, a temptation hard to overcome, 
yet he hears a voice of authority saying to him, 
" Look not on the wine when it is red, when it 
giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself 
aright ; at the last it biteth like a serpent, and 
stingeth like an adder/' and his conscience says 



HABIT. 59 

to him, "This is the voice of God, and you dis- 
obey it at your peril !" 

It is thus with any evil habit. The single acts 
which repeated make the habit are freely com- 
mitted by the free agent, who thus becomes 
responsible not only for each sinful act, but the 
habit to which it leads. A bad habit is not a 
calamity in the sense that a fire or plague or 
famine is a calamity. It is the result of one's own 
voluntary sinful acts. No one can shift the respon- 
sibility of a bad habit from off his own shoulders. 

This is a truth of very great practical import- 
ance to the young. Let them now look at this 
truth as they will at a future day, for time may 
correct our theories and opinions, but not our 
habits. The young may put but little value on 
these views now, but the time will come when 
they may become so involved in some evil habit 
as to cry out in distress, " Oh that we had been 
wise !" The responsibility of forming any habits, 
whether good or bad, rests on each one, and the 
day will come when the young will either bless 
God for the grace which led them to form good 
habits, or reproach themselves with unsparing 
condemnation for the folly which led them to 
form evil habits. The responsibility rests on the 



60 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

young, the process of formation is going on, and 
soon the result will be reached. 

BEAD THIS CHAPTER ON HABITS CAREFULLY. 

Some one has well said, "I look at the young 
with profound interest because I know their dan- 
gers. Some of my early companions have already 
fallen victims to evil habits, whilst others of our 
number are walking in the high places of the 
earth, because God enabled them to form good 
habits. One who recited with me was tempted to 
indulge in a vice which must here be without a 
name. He had fine talents, he was finelv edu- 
cated, he had wealth and his professional pros- 
pects were very flattering, but he died the victim 
of his bad habits before he was thirty years old. 
Another of our number was the most active and 
skillful player at our school-games; he was a 
beautiful specimen of health ; his social position 
was highly advantageous to success in life; and 
his friends expected great things from him. But 
he became habituated to drinking intoxicating 
liquors, by means of which he was dismissed from 
lucrative posts again and again. His patrimony 
melted away in due time. So sensible was he of 
the power of his evil habit that he voluntarily 



HABIT. 61 

sought refuge in a public asylum. For a few 
months everything seemed encouraging, but so 
fearfully had his moral power been weakened 
by this habit of drunkenness that after a time 
he began to drink as madly as ever. At last 
in the frenzy of delirium tremens he committed 
suicide." 

The young are likely to pursue widely different 
destinies. Some shall wreck themselves on the 
bad habits they are now forming ; others attain 
the haven in safety. Would God they might be 
warned effectually to bew r are of any act which 
may lead them to a bad habit, and encouraged to 
such conduct as may be pleasing to God ! One 
bright morning in May I stood in my garden ad- 
miring the goodness of the Lord as displayed in 
the works of his hands. I looked on our moun- 
tains, again green by this miraculous resurrection 
of spring. I looked on the trees covered with 
blossoms, filling the air with fragrance, and I ex- 
claimed : " Oh what a beautiful world the Lord 
has made !" As I stood there admiring the won- 
ders of the Lord's hand, offering my adoration to 
Him whose goodness permitted me again to look 
on the blossoms, I saw a little bird perched on the 
topmost bough of a tree. The breeze gently 



62 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

swayed the bough hither and thither, and there 
sat the bird pouring out a song so sweet, so joy- 
ous and so in harmony with the scene that it af- 
fected my heart, and I said to myself in Luther's 
words: "Oh that men would praise the Lord 
even as this little bird does !" The great God is 
in our world everywhere manifesting his goodness 
and power and wisdom. Why should we dwell 
in the midst of these glories with less gratitude 
than the birds? But we have God's written 
word, and ought to form the habit of searching 
it. Let not the newspaper, the work of fiction 
or any uninspired book supplant the Bible in our 
affections. Sir Walter Scott, when he was dying, 
said to his friend : " For a dying man there is 
but one book !" Neglect of the Bible is incon- 
sistent with any permanent improvement. But 
not only should we cultivate this habit of search- 
ing the Scriptures, but practice every good habit, 
carefully avoiding every bad habit. Let every 
thought and word and action confirm us in such 
habits as God may approve, and let us beseech 
the Lord for his assistance. Remember these 
words: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or 
the leopard his spots ? Then may ye do good 
that are accustomed to do evil." " If thou be 



HABIT. 63 

wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself ; but if thou 
scornest, thou alone shalt bear it." 

Reader, let me ask you to dwell upon this 
chapter on habit. 



c^ 





CHAPTER VII. 

A GOOD NAME. 

HERE is scarce a young man who has not 
looked on riches with strong desire. The 
elegant dwellings of the rich, their ex- 
emption from many hardships endured by 
the poor, the consideration accorded to them by 
society and the power which they have, all unite 
to make riches a very desirable object. But the 
wise man says, "A good name is rather to be 
chosen than great riches." 

A good name includes the two ideas of a good 
character and good reputation. The word charac- 
ter is derived from a Greek word which primarily 
means an instrument used in cutting impressions 
on precious stones. This gradually was changed 
to signify the impression itself cut on the precious 
stone. The word conveys an idea of fixedness. 
The character is what a person is before God, and 

64 



A GOOD NAME. 65 

not necessarily what his associates think him to 
be. This last is reputation. 

By a good character is not meant merely a good 
reputation among men, nor yet a perfectly holy 
character, for "there is not a just man on the 
earth, that liveth and sinneth not," but a charac- 
ter which arises from the gracious working of the 
Holy Ghost in the heart — a work which goes on 
to perfection, until at last God, working in that 
heart " to will and to do of his good pleasure," 
has prepared it for the society and enjoyments of 
his own immediate presence. 

THREE REASONS. 

A good character is rather to be chosen 
than great riches, and that for three reasons: 
First, because God loves him who has a good 
character. 

God evidently regards beautiful things with 
delight. He has created a profusion of beautiful 
objects. The mountain, the landscape, the clouds, 
the flowers, the grain-field, the sunbeam, the 
snowflake, all are beautiful. Our world, notwith- 
standing the curse, is a very fair world, in which 
the Lord " hath made everything beautiful in his 
time." But in those things which are morally 

6* E 



66 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

beautiful God has especial delight. He loves the 
humble soul so much that " thus saith the Lord, 
The heaven is my throne, and the earth is 
my footstool, . . . but to this man will I look, 
even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, 
and trembleth at my word." The Beatitudes 
spoken by our blessed Lord are an affecting proof 
of God's delight in a good character. " Blessed 
are the poor in spirit," "Blessed are they that 
mourn," " Blessed are the meek," " Blessed are 
they which do hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness," " Blessed are the merciful," " Blessed are 
the pure in heart," "Blessed are the peace- 
makers." Such were the benedictions pronounced 
on those who have a good character in the sight 
of God. The full value of a good character in 
this respeot cannot be known until the Judge of 
all the earth say to those who possess it : " Come, 
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the 
world." Then, if not sooner, it will be seen that 
a good character is better than great riches, be- 
cause God loves such a character. 

Again, a good character is better than great 
riches because it is an unfailing comfort to him that 
possesses it Some possessions bring with them no 



A GOOD NAME. 67 

comfort. David had taken Bathsheba, but his 
soul was afflicted with a sense of sin, which he 
confesses, and of blood-guiltiness, from which he 
prays to be delivered. Judas had the thirty 
pieces of silver actually in hand, but he cast 
them away from him with the bitter self-condem- 
nation : " I have sinned in that I have betrayed 
innocent blood." Whenever bad men look afc 
their own character they are not comforted, how- 
ever they may be praised by their fellow-men. 
The man w T ho has robbed widows' houses feels 
mean in his own eyes, even though for a pretence 
he may make long prayers. If one has been 
guilty of. some great crime, the memory of it will 
haunt him. A certain murderer in !New Jersey con- 
fessed that there had not been a moment since 
the fatal act when he had not been haunted with 
the piteous petitions of the man he was mur- 
dering. In this world very often a bad character 
is the source of unspeakable anguish ; in the world 
to come it shall be like the undying worm and 
the unquenchable fire. 

But a good character is the source of unfailing 
pleasure. What delight does the consciousness of 
having served God w T ith a pure heart afford him 
who is thus blessed ! He may be persecuted for 



68 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

righteousness' sake, and yet he is blessed. Like 
Paul and Silas he may be scourged as a disturb- 
er of the public peace, and be thrust into an inner 
prison, and there have his feet made fast in the 
stocks, yet can he pray and sing praises to God. 
His comfort is not solely, nor even principally, de- 
pendent on those outward circumstances which 
many regard as essential. He may be poor, sick, be- 
reaved, despised, and yet he may be happy in the 
consciousness that he loves God, who first loved 
him. He may be so happy in this consciousness 
as to be able to speak of the greatest earthly trial 
as "this light affliction which is but for a mo- 
ment." 

Take such a person as Joseph, and who does 
not perceive that his good character must have 
been an unfailing source of personal pleasure? 
In the prison Joseph must have been refreshed 
with the memory of his own filial love to his 
father and his virtue in resisting the temptation 
which had resulted in his imprisonment. Who 
can deny that Moses also must have had a part 
of his reward "for choosing to suffer affliction 
with the people of God" in the consciousness of 
having done right ? By the grace of God he had 
made a choice the thoughts of which never dis- 



A GOOD NAME. 69 

comforted him. It is so with every one who has 
a good character. It is an unfailing source of 
comfort, and is therefore rather to be chosen than 
great riches. 

There is still a third reason for putting so high 
an estimate on a good character. It is the only 
sound stock on which to graft a good reputation. 
Our reputation is the estimation in which we are 
held by our fellow-men. In certain circles the 
Apostle Paul had a bad reputation. Many of 
his " kinsmen according to the flesh" believed him 
to be an apostate and a bad man. In the sight 
of God his character was good, but his reputation 
was not good among his enemies. On the other 
hand, HazaeFs character was so bad that he was 
ready to murder his master, and yet such was 
his good reputation that no one, so far as we 
know, suspected that he was capable of such 
wickedness. Some old divine quaintly traced out 
this distinction between character and reputation 
in expressing his belief that he should see some 
on the right hand of the Judge whom he expect- 
ed to see on the left, and some on the left hand 
of the Judge whom he expected to see on the right ! 
In each case the reputation of the individual 
would not correspond with his character. 



70 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

But while such a discrepancy is not only possi- 
ble, but easy, it is plain that a good character is 
the only sound foundation on which to build a 
good reputation. We sometimes see a tree which 
has no roots planted and putting out buds and 
leaves, but those buds and leaves are sure soon to 
wither away. Even so a good reputation which 
does not grow out of a good character is very 
likely to wither away for want of vital nourish- 
ment. A house may be built on the sand and 
seem to stand firm, but when the rains descend, 
and the winds blow, and the floods come and 
beat on that house, it falls because it is built on 
the sand. Even so a good reputation not 
founded on a good character may appear well 
until temptation and trial like angry floods beat 
upon it. But let the good reputation be the fair 
and honest index to the good character, let the 
man seem to others to be what he actually is, and 
then he will stand like a rock in the midst of the 
waves. 

A GOOD KEPUTATION. 

It is said that King Pyrrhus sought to corrupt 
the Roman ambassador Fabricius, and that the 
Roman replied to him : " You shall keep, if you 



A GOOD NAME. 71 

please, your riches to yourself, and I my poverty 
and my reputation" In his own estimation, and 
also in that of his adversary, his reputation for 
strict integrity was better than riches. "With such 
a reputation his countrymen did not fear to trust 
him with any responsibility. It was so with 
Aristides the Just, of Athens. Themistocles was 
a brilliant and great man, but the people feared 
to trust him, whilst in Aristides they reposed un- 
limited confidence. 

In every community there are cases which il- 
lustrate the value of a good reputation. There 
are men reputed to be so poor, so upright, so un- 
selfish, that their neighbors are ready to entrust 
them with all they have. Their word is as good 
as a bond, their truth is undoubted, and in every 
position they may be relied on implicitly. This 
is indeed a very enviable excellence to attain, and 
it is a matter of surprise that the young seem so 
reckless as to what they are doing to secure either 
a good or bad reputation. Some seem to take 
pleasure in the utter destruction of a good name, 
forgetting how difficult it is to restore to purity a 
reputation which has been stained by wrong- 
doing. 

Many years ago a boy of much more than or- 



72 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

dinary ability pursued a course which forfeited 
the confidence of those who knew him. His 
brilliant talents were admired, but his integrity 
was doubted. When he was of age he removed 
to a distant State, and there began his career 
among strangers with some conduct which exhib- 
ited talent and hypocrisy. In the course of time, 
to all appearance he was converted, but many 
prophesied that " he would soon show the cloven 
foot." He became a preacher of rare merit, and his 
life was not merely unexceptionable, it was high- 
ly exemplary, and yet many who knew him said, 
" He is still acting a part." Years rolled away, 
and this man's talents and piety had placed him 
in a high position in the church of which he was 
one of the brightest lights, and yet after he had 
proved his sincerity and piety through many 
years, an old acquaintance said of him : " I have 
never been able to rid myself of the notion that 
he is playing the hypocrite, and I am not alone 
in this. We who knew him of old stand in 
doubt of him to this day !" 

A bad reputation is not as easily exchanged for 
a good one as a spotted garment is exchanged for 
a new one. 

We need to look closely at this matter of a 



A GOOD NAME. 73 

bad reputation in order to appreciate the value of 
a good reputation among men. 

There was a certain man whose reputation was 
such that men expected to hear of his having 
done some base thing soon after professing to be 
converted, which he often did. He was thorough- 
ly corrupt, so that those who knew him thought 
nothing too bad for him to do. They did not 
believe his assertions, and even his note was 
worthless if not secured by some responsible 
name. People stood in dread of him, and when 
he was buried many no doubt pitied his fate who 
did not mourn his absence. A bad reputation is 
a very unproductive possession, calculated to 
make him who has it thoroughly despised and 
wretched. The wealth of Solomon would be no 
compensation for carrying such a reputation as 
Ahab's or Herod's. In what striking contrast 
with this is the confidence which men repose in 
him who has a good reputation, and the admira- 
tion he excites even among bad men ! Such a 
man may be poor, but yet he is noble. He may 
have very humble gifts, but his integrity is a 
diamond which the wealth of Croesus cannot buy. 
And when he dies men exclaim : " Mark the per- 

7 

. .. ii - 



74 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

feet man, and behold the upright, for the end of 
that man is peace !" 

SAMUEL PAINE. 

When the Holy Spirit has sanctified the cha- 
racter so that the excellences of the inner man 
irradiate the face and unfold the character of the 
Christian man before others, we pay an involun- 
tary homage to it. 

Some years ago a student at the Bloomfield 
Academy, in New Jersey, named Samuel Paine, 
achieved a great reputation for piety. He was 
not remarkable for any other quality. His talents 
were not more than ordinary, and his scholastic 
attainments were limited, but his humility, his 
steady principle, his cheerful faith, his joyful 
assurance, were such as to win for him the confi- 
dence of all who knew him as one who walked 
with God. For years he had not a doubt of his 
acceptance with God, and this assurance of faith 
seemed to make his very face to shine. 

A friend met Samuel Paine some years ago 
on an Ohio steamboat. He had been preach- 
ing in Iowa, and on his return to remove his 
family to that state, he embarked at St. Louis on 
a steamer for Cincinnati. For a day or two his 



A GOOD NAME. 75 

modest and cheerful piety seemed to charm all 
who came in contact with hirn, but one morning, 
on leaving his state-room, he found that he was 
avoided. All his efforts to engage others in con- 
versation were repulsed, and in some cases rudely. 
This was hard to bear, especially as for some time 
he could not learn the reason of the change. 
This was communicated to him at last in a very 
trying way. A wealthy Southern planter coming 
up to him cursed him as " an abolitionist," and 
struck him in the face. But Mr. Paine showed his 
piety in his evident want of disposition to resent 
the insult. His face was as serene after the blow 
as it was before, and his voice was gentle as he 
said to his assailant, " I trust I can forgive you 
this wrong, and pray God to forgive you also." 
Without further remark, he retired to his state- 
room to " pray for one who had despitefully used 
him and persecuted him." When he left his 
room an hour or two afterward, the man who 
had struck him w T as the first to meet him and to 
say with tears, "I did you a wrong, sir, and I ask 
you to forgive me!" The weak had conquered 
the strong. Had not this excellent man entered into 
rest, it would not be proper thus to speak of his 
beautiful character, which won for him such a 



76 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

reputation even among strangers that they said 
involuntarily, "this is one of the Lord's servants," 
taking "knowledge of him that had been with 
Jesus." 

If these considerations concerning a good name 
are correct, then are we dealing with a most in- 
teresting reality in urging the young especially 
to secure a good name before God and among 
men. We may say to them in the strong figures 
employed by our Lord, pluck out a right eye, cut 
off a right hand or a right foot and cast them 
from you, do anything, suffer anything, even 
death, rather than speak a word or do an act 
which shall destroy your good name. The loss 
of an eye or a hand, or even of life itself, is not so 
great as the loss of a good name. Some great and 
good men have been halt or maimed or blind, 
and the young who read these words also can 
part with limbs or sight, if it be the will of God, 
and yet be happy in the treasure of a good cha- 
racter and a good reputation; but when a young 
man parts with his good name, where shall he go 
to escape the savor of his bad name ? In what 
deep cavern shall he hide so as not only to be for- 
gotten by others, but even by himself? Do what 
he will, go where he will, his bad name will 



A GOOD NAME. 



77 



follow him ; he can no more flee from it than 
from his shadow. This is in part the penalty of 
sin, that the sinner who has destroyed his good 
name may find forgiveness with God, but his 
fellow-men do not forget his infamy. "A good 
name is rather to be chosen than great riches." 





CHAPTER VIII. 

HOW A GOOD CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 

HIS train of remark would be incomplete 
without some directions to aid the young 
in gaining such a character and reputation 
as have been described. Without such 
directions it would be as if a very brilliant and 
valuable diamond had been described, and yet the 
place where that precious stone could be found 
had not been pointed out, nor the way to reach 
it shown. How may the young get that good 
name which the wisdom of God decides to be 
better than great riches ? 

INDUSTRY. 

There is a volume of sound sense in that stanza 
of Dr. Watts: 

" In works of labor and of skill 
I would be busy too, 



For Satan finds some mischief still 
For idle hands to do." 



78 



HOW A CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 79 

The late Professor Stuart of Andover was ac- 
customed to say, in a half-serious manner, that 
" Original sin consists in laziness/' and a very 
keen observer of events in his own large parish 
once exhorted parents to teach their children to 
be industrious, because if they contracted habits 
of indolence in worldly business, they would 
show those habits in their relations to God. 

Many young persons lay the foundations of 
their ruin in habits of indolence. A person may 
be indolent who is compelled to work even as the 
lazy ox moves under the whip. Industry is a 
principle which prompts a person to do his duty 
because it is his duty. It is not a question of 
ease or comfort or sensibility, but simply of duty. 
This habit is not easy of acquirement. It is far 
easier to be lazy than to be industrious, so that 
the young man who would become industrious 
must needs exert force to gain the end. 

See the effect of this habit in a single illustra- 
tion. A young man said to a friend in reference 
to a plan which was of very great importance to 
him : " I will call on you on Thursday about this 
business, as I intend to visit the circus on Wed- 
nesday." Had that young man been thoroughly 
controlled by this principle of industry, he would 



80 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

not have allowed a dangerous pleasure to crowd 
aside an important duty. How often can we 
account for the singular conduct of young persons 
by referring to their habits of indolence ! One 
reads a novel in preference to a history or a book 
of solid worth ; another goes to a party of pleasure 
rather than to a religious meeting ; another goes 
to the bar-room in preference to remaining at 
the quiet fireside of home. 

This quality is not easily over-estimated in its 
practical relations to success in the undertakings 
of this life, and also to that good name which is 
rather to be chosen than great riches. 

The most of the young, in any community, 
have to labor for their living. If it be necessary 
to spend eight, ten or twelve hours a day on the 
farm, at the lathe or bench or anvil, so much 
the more urgent is the reason why a young man 
should not waste his hours in the evening by 
lounging and dissipation in the streets, stores, 
saloons or bar-rooms. Yet how many young 
men plead the hard labors of the day as the rea- 
son why at night they should be indulged in a 
lazy habit which is likely to injure them seri- 
ously both for time and eternity ! There are but 
few young men who cannot, if they be industrious, 



HOW A CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 81 

obtain an extensive acquaintance with the Scrip- 
tures which are able to make them wise unto sal- 
vation, and also the standard histories of nations 
and men. Young men certainly have very little 
prospect of getting that valuable diamond, "a 
good name," until they govern themselves in their 
pursuits and in the disposition of their time by the 
principle of industry, which both seeks for and 
does that which is right. Industry may be con- 
fidently named as an important link in the causes 
which result in the soul's salvation. 

MENTAL TRAINING. 

Another direction closely connected with the 
last is that, to gain a good name, it is of great 
importance to the young to educate their minds 
as far as their circumstances permit. 

Some may say that such a rule can more fitly 
be addressed to scholars than to those who would 
learn how to get a good character ; but it is easy 
to show that mental discipline is a valuable 
auxiliary in all right moral training. What is 
sometimes called a "liberal education" is not now 
referred to. Some pass through a course of study 
with very little mental profit. Their stock of 
knowledge may be increased, and yet their mental 



82 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

powers be no stronger nor more disciplined than 
when they began. Mental discipline is the train- 
ing of the mind to obey instead of acting accord- 
ing to passionate impulses. For instance, there is 
a humble woman who has so trained her mind 
that she finds no difficulty in turning from her 
work to the word of God to commit some of its 
teachings to memory for the purpose of medita- 
tion ; there is a mechanic whose advantages were 
limited who has disciplined his mind admirably 
by investigating the truths of the Bible and 
books of acknowledged merit. 
,' The want of this mental training is a very 
serious obstacle in the way of the young. How 
many of them dread the Sabbath as a long tedious 
day, instead of blessing God for a whole day to 
devote to the consideration of the most enno- 
bling and thrilling themes that can occupy the 
human mind ! How many of the young falter in 
the attempt to fix their minds on a given subject 
— so much so that a chapter in the Bible or a dis- 
course, however interesting, utterly fails to in- 
struct them ! Their minds glance off from one 
object to another without resting enough in one 
place to gain any good. In consequence of this 
habit their progress in the acquirement of truth 



HOW A CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 83 

is very slow, and for want of clear ideas of duty 
they are constantly liable to fall into the power 
of temptation. " Clouds are they without water, 
carried about of winds." To speak to such 
thoughtless and unreflecting persons about so 
interesting a theme even as a " good name" is to 
speak in the ear of the wind. 

But when by diligence the mind of a young 
person is so trained that it can grasp and hold 
the truth, there is reason to hope that the truth 
will find a lodgment, and that the devil will not 
be able to steal it away. 

BAD COMPANY. 

To get a good name the young should carefully 
avoid bad company. He who associates with the 
bad is himself reputed to be bad, and in time 
usually becomes bad. "Evil communications 
corrupt good manners." " Can a man take fire 
into his bosom and his clothes not be burned ?" 
Associations with the profane, the dishonest, the 
infidel, the profligate, or with those who are in 
any way vicious, will sooner or later make sad 
impressions on the character. It is far easier to 
assimilate the good to the bad than the bad to 
the good. A stream of dirty water will discolor 



84 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

a spring brook sooner than the spring brook will 
cleanse a stream of dirty water. Bad associates 
tear away the foundations of character which are 
not bedded on the eternal rock of God's word 
and Spirit, even as the floods sweep the founda- 
tions from under the house that is built upon the 
sand. There is little hope that a young person 
will obtain that the price of which is indeed 
above rubies, better than great riches — a good 
character before God — if he do not shun the 
vicious as he would the pestilence. 

A certain lad seemed to be virtuous and honest 
in every respect. His employer trusted him im- 
plicitly, and at one time would have recommend- 
ed him in the highest terms for any place of 
trust he w r as capable of filling. At length he 
became associated with young men who frequent- 
ed the bar-room and the theatre. For a time he 
struggled to counteract the influence on himself, 
but in vain. His reputation for honesty and 
virtue was soon gone. Nor was this the worst of 
it. His character became vicious, like that of his 
associates, and to-day he is a poor wreck both as 
to character and reputation. 

Another young man twenty-five years ago had 
as bright prospects as the most ardent could de- 



HOW A CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 85 

sire. He had talents of a peculiar order which 
fitted him to occupy a certain office of great re- 
sponsibility, honor and profit. He eagerly desired 
and seemed sure to reach it. Hitherto his asso- 
ciates had been such that he would not have been 
ashamed to introduce them to his mother and sis- 
ters. His place in the church was occupied reg- 
ularly, and in all respects as to business capacity 
and reputation he was excelled by but few. A 
change was soon perceptible in his demeanor. 
Occasionally he was not at church, and at times 
he was seen at fashionable saloons. His new as- 
sociates were vicious, and in a very short time he 
himself became thoroughly corrupt. His em- 
ployer withdrew from him the trust reposed in 
him, and in a few years he sank down to the lowest 
infamy. His reputation and character both per- 
ished before the influence of wicked associates. 

Let the young remember that the vicious or 
infidel associate is incompatible with the gaining 
of a good name. The most attractive view of the 
excellence and the rewards of virtue and piety, 
the most revolting description of the hatefulness 
and punishment of vice and impiety, may become 
entirely powerless through the influence of bad 
associates. Alas for the young man who is thus 



86 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

corrupted by evil communication ! He shall not 
have that "good name" which the Son of God 
shall mention without shame in the presence of 
his Father and of the holy angels. " Blessed is 
the man that walketh not in the counsel of the 
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor 
sitteth in the seat of the scornful I" 

luther's fruit tree. 

They who desire to get a " good name" must 
study the holy Scriptures constantly, earnestly 
and candidly. This is a great rule, and one well 
worthy of repetition. That part of the Bible 
which had then been revealed the Psalmist calls 
a lamp and a light. He compares it to honey 
which is sweet to the taste, and to pure gold well 
refined. It is a marvelous book, a miracle more 
amazing to the thoughtful mind than the raising 
of Lazarus from the grave. Its history of man, 
the law which it proclaims and the gospel it re- 
veals, its promises and its threatenings, its rules 
of life, its sublime descriptions of the future 
blessedness of the holy and misery of the unholy — 
all compose a book which has no peer on earth. 
It is a book which warrants the glowing eulogium 
of the Psalmist : "The law of thy mouth is bet- 



HOW A CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 87 

ter unto me than thousands of gold and silver." 
" How sweet are thy words unto my taste ! yea, 
sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through thy 
precepts I get understanding r , therefore I hate every 
false way." 

The word of God is to man's spiritual nature 
what bread is to his body. It is so essential to 
his well-being that it cannot be dispensed with, 
it matters not what substitute is provided, with- 
out serious damage. There is a nourishment in 
that Book which is precisely adapted to man's 
wants in every relation — as a child, a parent, a 
husband, a brother, a citizen or an heir of im- 
mortality. Take away God's word from a 
church or a nation, and the effect is as perceptible 
as if you withheld food from the body. Those 
men in all ages w T ho have exhibited the Christian 
manhood in its most perfect fullness have loved 
the word of God with such a relish as the hungry 
have for bread. There is no substitute for this 
Book. It speaks with authority. Its lessons are 
weighty. It seems to bring God and eternity 
very near to him who reads it earnestly, often 
and candidly. 

" Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and 
the man that getteth understanding 



88 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

She is more precious than rubies; and all the 
things thou canst desire are not to be compared 

unto her She is a tree of life to them 

that lay hold upon her, and happy is every one 
that retain eth her." Happy the youth who thus 
receives the instruction and the law of his Father 
in heaven, "for they shall be life unto his soul 
and grace to his neck." 

In this age of books let the young allow no 
books to displace the Bible. Luther compared it 
to a tree full of fruit As he picked and ate the 
fruit from one bough and then from another until 
he reached the topmost bough, he supposed it 
all to be gone, but when he came back to the 
limb at which he commenced, it was still full of 
delicious fruit. He went over that tree five times 
a year, and yet the fruit was never exhausted. 

If the young would gain a good name, let them 
reverence the word of God, searching it in an 
earnest and candid spirit, and be sure this word 
of the Lord will be verified, "Them that honor 
me will I honor, and they that despise me shall 
be lightly esteemed." "Wherewithal shall a 
young man cleanse his way? By taking heed 
thereto according to thy word." 



HOW A CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 89 
THE SPIRIT OF A LITTLE CHILD. 

Another rule to guide the young in their efforts 
to gain a good name is to obey the commands of 
God with the spirit of little children. "And 
Jesus called a little child unto him and set him 
in the midst of them, and said, Except ye be con- 
verted and become as little children, ye shall 
not enter the kingdom of heaven." Some great 
orators have studied diligently parts of the Bible 
as furnishing a model of eloquence. Some very 
learned scholars, following the guidance of pride, 
have studied the Bible to gain the fame of scholars. 
Many persons read parts of the Bible as they 
read any other book, for the purpose of being 
amused. A child at home does not listen to his 
father's promises, threatenings or directions in 
this spirit. He hears in order to obey. If he is 
away from home and receives letters of advice or 
instruction from his father, he reads them that he 
may do what his father wishes. 

This is the spirit in which the young must read 
the word and learn the will of God. They are 
not to read the Psalms because they are beau- 
tiful, nor the book of Job because it is eloquent, 
nor the history of Moses and Joseph because it is 

8* 



90 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

pathetic, nor the life of the Son of God in the 
gospels because it is unspeakably marvelous, nor 
the mighty arguments of the Apostle Paul, be- 
cause they display the power of a most gifted in- 
tellect. Thus to read the word of God would be 
as if Saul of Tarsus had admired that bright 
light at noonday and the display of divine power 
without saying with a humble and teachable 
spirit, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
The spirit of cheerful obedience will work won- 
ders in tasting up a highway over the valleys and 
in digging down the mountains. That is a delight- 
ful and comforting word of our God, when he 
says, " The Lord is nigh unto them that are of 
a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a con- 
trite spirit." 

PRAYER FOR HELP. 

Finally, those who desire a good name should 
pray constantly and fervently to God for the di- 
vine assistance. 

The simple facts concerning prayer may be 
stated in the language of the Scriptures. We 
are sinful creatures, hence we are taught to pray, 
" Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." 
We are ignorant creatures, hence we are assured 



HOW A CHAKACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 91 

" If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, 
that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth 
not, and it shall be given him." We are depend- 
ent creatures, hence we are told to pray, " Give us 
this day our daily bread." We fall very easily 
into sin, hence each may pray as the Psalmist 
did: "Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my 
footsteps slip not," "Hold thou me up and I 
shall be safe." We are liable to very grievous 
afflictions, hence we may imitate the afflicted 
Psalmist when he cried out, "Make haste to help 
me/O Lord my salvation." Directly and by 
example the Holy Scriptures teach us as de- 
pendent creatures in every relation of life to offer 
fervent prayer to God for divine assistance. 

Xor is this a mere arbitrary statute of Heaven. 
Mankind acknowledge their need of help, and in 
their extremity call on God. The experienced 
and the good feel this want, insomuch that prayer 
and piety coexist of necessity in the same cha- 
racter. It is impossible to find real prayer with- 
out piety or real piety without prayer. But if 
the aged saint, rich in the experiences of this life, 
needs to pray, how much more the inexperienced 
youth who has just launched his vessel on a dan- 
gerous and stormy sea ! There are many shoals 



92 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

and many false lights to decoy the young mariner, 
and there are many storms to threaten him with 
destruction. And how shall he attempt a voyage 
across such a sea without beseeching God to keep 
him safe in the hollow of his hand? The Psalm- 
ist, in his sublime description of the sailors when 
their vessel is pressed with the storm, has spoken 
a word which every youth should imitate : 

" Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, 
a And he bringeth them out of their distresses ; 
" He maketh the storm a calm, 
"So that the waves thereof are still. 
"Then are they glad because they be quiet, 
"So he bringeth them unto their desired haven." 
Oh how often has the weary and dependent 
and tempted soul cried unto the Lord in the hour 
of danger, and found by blessed experience that 
it is not a vain thing to wait on the Lord ! 

It is a strange fact that the young dread to be 
even suspected of praying. Yes, ashamed to ask 
help of the great God ! But while this is so, it 
is also true that he who restrains prayer, either 
because of the pride of his heart or his fear of 
man, will not win a good character. The words 
of prayer are not a sign of unmanliness in a 
young man or in any man. Never did words so 



HOW A CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 93 

become a young man's lips as when Solomon 
prayed the Lord to give him an "understanding 
heart, that he might discern between the good 
and the bad." It is a great experiment we are 
now making, a great probation we are now 
spending, a great result we are soon to reach — 
nothing less than eternal felicity or eternal sorrow. 
We have a sinful heart to tempt us, and we are 
assaulted with temptations at every step in the 
way, and we assuredly shall perish if we do not 
ask God for assistance. We cannot without fer- 
vent and constant prayer win that good name 
which our blessed Saviour shall mention with 
approval before his Father and before the holy 
angels. 

A MODEL JOSEPH. 

This discussion of a good name would be in- 
complete without taking from the Holy Scriptures 
at least one model character as an illustration. 
Were the question asked, "Who shall he be?" 
the unanimous answer would be, " Joseph." 

AS A SON. 

In the fine arts a model is that which is to be 
imitated. Joseph is such a model for every 
young person who would have a good name. His 



94 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

name shines upon us as beautifully and purely as 
a star in the unclouded sky. His father's love 
for him was founded on his moral excellences, 
and not on mere caprice. " Jacob loved Joseph 
more than all his children" not because he was 
the youngest, for Benjamin was younger, nor be- 
cause his gifts were superior to those of his 
brethren, for in this respect Judah's gifts were 
pre-eminent. The reason for Jacob's love of Jo- 
seph was this, " because he was the son of his old 
age." This expression is understood by many as 
meaning that Joseph was born when his father 
was an old man, but its probable meaning is that 
he was a son who tenderly loved and cherished 
his aged father. What a beautiful characteristic ! 
To the end of his life his love to his father 
never grew dim. How affecting the words he 
spake to his brethren after he became governor of 
Egypt, "Is your father well, the old man of 
whom ye spake ? Is he yet alive ?" And when 
he had made himself known to his brethren, he 
said to them, " Haste ye, and go up to my father 
and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God 
hath made me lord of all Egypt. Come down 
unto me ; tarry not." When they met after so 
long a separation, Joseph fell on his father's neck 



HOW A CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 05 

and " wept on his neck a good while." And when 
Jacob died, "Joseph fell upon his father's face 
and wept upon him and kissed him." From his 
childhood until the death of his father he was a 
good son, and he has been a model of filial affec- 
tion to this day. 

AS A BROTHER. 

Scarcely less admirable was his character as a 
brother. Never did one have more selfish brothers, 
and yet from first to last he treated them with a 
noble and disinterested affection. He told them 
his dreams, never thinking to excite their envy, 
and when they w r ere selling him into bondage, he 
besought them, but did not curse them. When he 
met them in Egypt his heart yearned over them, 
and he made every preparation for their comfort. 
The great wrongs they had done him he forgave 
in a spirit that showed the goodness of his heart. 

IK TEMPTATION. 

Under the teachings of divine Providence the 
young servant was sold to Potiphar, " an officer 
of Pharaoh and captain of the guard." "And 
Joseph was a goodly person and well favored." 
"And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a 



96 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

prosperous man; and his master saw that the 
Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all 
that he did to prosper." His master placed en- 
tire confidence in him, and under the divinely 
blessed labors of Joseph, Potiphar's affairs were 
greatly prospered. And he left all that he had 
in Joseph's hand, and knew not aught he had, 
save the bread which he did eat. 

This was a most serious temptation, and had 
he been dishonest it would not have been a mat- 
ter of surprise, since in every age young men have 
yielded to far weaker temptations. But Joseph 
resisted this temptation, and maintained his 
character for honesty. In this he is a noble 
model for the young. 

But he was met by another temptation, which 
is described at length in the Scriptures, and to 
this he presented this shield, which warded off the 
fiery dart: "But he refused, and said unto his 
master's wife, Behold my master wotteth not 
what is with me in the house, and he hath com- 
mitted all that he hath to my hand ; there is none 
greater in this house than I; neither hath he 
kept back anything from me but thee, because 
thou art his wife : how then can I do this great 
wickedness and sin against Godf 



HOW A CHARACTER IS TO BE GAINED. 97 

Xo mere man ever uttered a nobler sentence in 
the midst of temptation. What shame and sor- 
row would it have saved millions if they had 
"resisted the devil" as Joseph did, saying, 
"How then can I do this great wickedness and 
sin against God ?" In this respect the model is 
worthy of imitation. 

AS A PIOUS MAN. 

As the root sustains the branches, so did 
Joseph's piety toward God sustain all those 
admirable qualities which made up his good 
name. It was no idle boast when he said to his 
brethren, " I fear God." His history shows him 
to have been animated by true piety. When he 
made himself known to his brethren, he did not 
reproach them, but said, "Be not grieved nor 
angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither : 
for God did send me before you to preserve life." 
When the false witness borne by his mistress 
caused his imprisonment, while conducting the 
affairs of the prison and interpreting the dreams 
of the butler and baker, the same piety was visi- 
ble. Xot less illustrious did his faith appear as 
he stood before Pharaoh, as he administered the 
affairs of Egypt and as he was dying. 



98 



THE WAY LOST AND FOUND, 



Among all mere men there is no safer model 
for the young to imitate than Joseph. He was a 
model son, a model brother, a model man. He 
appears worthy of imitation in the family, in 
temptations, in adversity and in prosperity. 



CHAPTER IX 




A BAD NAME. 

IRABEAU, the great French orator and 
revolutionist, was exceedingly vile in his 
habits ; his excessive indulgence destroyed 
S '* him in the prime of life. While he was 
dying, he put his arms around the neck of his 
friend Dumont and exclaimed in pathetic accents, 
" I would pass through a furnace heated seven 
times to purify the name of Mirabeau ! But for 
this name, so polluted, all France would be at nty 
feet !" The value of a good name stands out in 
contrast with the loss of a bad name. 

There are two phases of a "bad name/' the bad 
character and the bad reputation. 



A BAD CHARACTER, 



Character, as previously stated, is a word which 
describes a person's real condition as a moral be- 
in £. The foundation of a bad character is that 



99 



100 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

depravity which is in every human being. "The 
carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not 
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." 
" The heart is deceitful above all things and des- 
perately wicked ; who can know it?" 

On this universal fact is based the call to "all 
men everywhere to repent," and the declaration 
of Jesus, "Except a man be born again he can- 
not see the kingdom of God," and "A corrupt 
tree bringeth forth evil fruit." As there is no 
exception to the depravity among mankind, so, in 
order to salvation, there can be no exception to 
this necessity of a change of heart. "Ye must be 
born again." Judged by this rule, there never 
was a perfect mere man — not one who could prop- 
erly say to a fellow-sinner, "Stand by thyself; 
come not near to me, for I am holier than thou." 

For this reason, whenever a person realizes his 
own depravity and sin, he does not say with the 
Pharisee, " God, I thank thee that I am not as 
other men," but with the publican, "God be mer- 
ciful unto me a sinner." 

From the general statement just made let us 
pass to one more specific and limited. Reference 
is made to the presence of some vice in the heart 
and habits of an individual ivhether that fact is 



A BAD NAME. 101 

known to others or not Judas Iscariot was reputed 
to be a good man before he betrayed Christ, but 
could his companions have looked into his heart 
they would have found it controlled by the "love 
of money," and that he was as truly " a devil" 
before his treason as he was after it. 

Look at that man who stands so prominently 
before the world as a good man and an able min- 
ister of the ]New Testament. How nobly does he 
speak for Jesus in "the great congregation!" 
and how many of the Lord's saints hang on his 
lips as he "holds forth the word of life!" What 
an enviable reputation he has among men ! 

But follow him into one of the gilded retreats 
of sin ; see him inflamed with passion and plung- 
ing into the whirlpool of sinful indulgence. It is 
a sight over which angels might weep. Look at 
him there, and you see that vice has wound her 
chains about him. As you see him there, you 
see his real character, and you pronounce it "a 
bad character" in a deeper sense than that in 
which it is applied to the whole human family. 

Look at another. He is a husband and father, 

and is very exemplary in these relations. He is 

a religious professor, and is very efficient in the 

Sabbath-school. People call him a good man, 
9* 



102 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

and his reputation is honorable in all respects. 
But get behind the scenes, and see him adminis- 
tering poison to one who had trusted him ; see 
him stealthily but firmly carrying forward his 
diabolical designs until he is guilty of murder; 
see him stand and weep beside the grave in 
which his victim is buried. There you see his 
real character in all its corruption. He is reputed 
to be a good man, but he is in reality a very bad 
man. 

Look at another. He too professes to be, and 
he is reputed to be, a good man. Not unfrequently 
is his voice heard in prayer, and the language 
appropriate to communion with God seems to be 
natural and comely as uttered by him. When the 
wants of the heathen, or the feebleness of our 
young churches at the West, or the struggle of 
our young men preparing to preach, are presented, 
how gracefully and heartily does he respond to 
these claims, as if it were a favor conferred on 
himself personally to be allowed to contribute to 
such charities ! How noble he appears as on a 
Sunday morning he overtakes some aged woman 
making her way to the sanctuary and lends his 
strength to her faltering steps ! And how intelli- 
gently and sympathetically does he talk about the 



A BAD NAME. 103 

fundamental truths of religion ! But go after 
him into that upper room where he supposes 
himself un watched, and you see that at heart he 
is corrupt. Gaming and drunkenness are actual 
vices in his character. When you get at that 
character as it appears to God, it is in very deed 
a bad character. 

Xot many years ago there lived in one of our 
Western States a man who appeared to be a gen- 
tleman. He was the owner of a magnificent farm, 
in the midst of which was a beautiful mansion. 
Although not a professor of religion, he was con- 
stant in his attendance at church and very liberal 
in his contributions. He was also a man of 
public spirit, and in most respects a pattern held 
up for imitation in the community. Whilst he 
was carrying such fair appearances the country 
was flooded with the most dangerous counterfeits, 
so well executed as in some cases to deceive 
bankers of experience. Vast damage was done 
to business. Individuals were in many cases 
large losers, and many banks were straitened by 
the panic which was thus created, and which 
forced their bills back on them. The most 
active exertions were made to find the source of 
the mischief, but for a long time all efforts were 



104 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

baffled; no one suspected the artful and accom- 
plished villain until one of his accomplices, who 
was in jail, pointed out the man already described 
as the leader of a numerous gang whose operations 
extended to every part of the country. When 
this .statement was first made it was regarded as 
a hoax, but the informant told too many facts to 
permit the aifair to go by without investigation. 
Accordingly, one night a company of men quietly 
surrounded the man's house, and in spite of his 
indignant protestations arrested him and searched 
his premises, finding abundant proofs of his real 
occupation and character. 

Thus we might illustrate every vice which cor- 
rupts the heart and converts general depravity 
into special wickedness in the form of a bad cha- 
racter. Here is a woman of very genial manners 
and great apparent truthfulness. She seems to 
those not intimately acquainted with her to be a 
most gentle, benevolent and well-disposed person, 
and yet she will insinuate and hint falsehoods 
without number and in the most heartless man- 
ner, until those who know her have ceased to be- 
lieve anything she may say. 

Whatever the vice may be — whether it be secret 
or open, whether it be dishonesty, licentiousness, 



A BAD NAME. 105 

falsehood, drunkenness, avarice, jealousy, mali- 
ciousness or any other vice, it gives its possessor 
a bad character. Irrespective of his reputation 
among his fellows, he is a bad man at heart. 

A BAD REPUTATION. 

After what has been said of a bad character it 
may seem needless to say anything further about 
a bad reputation, but the matter is too important 
to be passed by without distinct mention. A 
man's reputation defines what others think him 
to be. Thus one has the reputation of being an 
honest man ; another has the reputation of being a 
great rogue ; one has the reputation of being a 
Christian believer, while another has the reputa- 
tion of being an infidel. This reputation may 
be deserved, because it accords with the actual 
character of the one who has it, or it may differ 
entirely from that character. Thus a good man 
may be reputed to be a bad man. For instance, 
a man w 7 hose moral character stood the test of 
death was imprisoned for a crime of which he 
protested his innocence, and he died with that ig- 
nominy on his reputation. He had thus a bad 
reputation, w r hich w T as not rectified until some 
years after his death, when a man on the scaffold 



106 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

confessed that he had done the deed for which the 
other suffered. 

As already shown, a bad man may so conduct, 
himself as for a time to deceive others. He has 
a bad character, but a good reputation. 

A bad reputation is the special thing now to be 
illustrated. Many years ago a young gentleman 
who had recently been graduated at one of our 
colleges was on his way southward in search of a 
situation as a teacher. His talents and attain- 
ments were more than respectable. His manners 
were very pleasing, and he was the owner of a 
good reputation at home. He had the very best 
recommendations with which to invite the confi- 
dence of strangers. On the same boat with him 
was a wealthy planter who was on the lookout 
for an educated teacher for his sons. He was 
ready to pay liberally for the services of a suit- 
able man. The very first day they were on the 
boat together the planter learned the object of the 
young man in going to the South, and he was so 
favorably impressed with his manners and gifts 
that he resolved to make him a liberal offer pro- 
vided he should see nothing to shake his confi- 
dence in him. One day the young man seated 
himself for a game of cards, and soon proved 






A BAD NAME. 107 

himself no mean adversary in the game. The 
planter looked at the transaction with regret, as 
destroying the young man's good reputation by 
bringing to light his real character. Before the 
voyage was finished the student learned that the 
planter was looking for a teacher, and offered his 
services, but was told that " his skill at cards was 
too suggestive of danger to one's sons to allow 
him for a moment to think of exposing them to 
such a teacher I" His bad reputation in that case 
had defeated his plans. 

Such a reputation may apply to any vice that 
can be named. The one who steals, or lies, or 
kills, or slanders, or hates, or envies, or does any 
other bad deed, has a bad reputation among men. 
Absalom conspiring against his father, Saul seek- 
ing to assassinate David, and Joab basely stabbing 
Abner and Amasa, Herodias gnashing her teeth 
on John the Baptist, and Salome immodestly 
dancing before Herod and ferociously asking the 
head of John in a charger, acquired bad reputa- 
tions. Their reputation grows no better, and 
never will as long as the world stands. 

A bad reputation is a terrible possession for one 
to have. 



108 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND, 



A BAD REPUTATION AS A DAMAGE. 

The evil gratifications by which a bad reputa- 
tion is gained usually are momentary and trifling. 

Take a case somewhat singular. One of the 
noblest laymen in this country once related this 
fact. He knew a boy who on a certain "training- 
day" had a sixpence to spend. Seeing a man 
with "peanuts and candies," he bought of him 
"two cents' worth." He gave the candy-man his 
sixpence, and received four cents in return. He 
had not gone far before, in examining his change, 
he found the man had given him a shilling by 
mistake, concealed between two pennies. The 
first thought was great delight at this unexpected 
accession to his wealth. The next thought was 
this, "It is not mine." "But it is mine," he 
argued with himself, "for the man gave it to 
me." "He did it by mistake, did he not?" said 
conscience. "I am not bound to look after his 
mistakes," he argued with himself. " Perhaps 
not," said conscience, " but I advise you to run to 
the man and give him back his money ! You 
will lose nothing by such a course !" 

At first he resolved to go back, and then he 
concluded to wait until he met the man. Thus a 



A BAD NAME. 109 

considerable time passed before he began to look, 
and then he could not find him. He was now 
feeling so conscience-stricken that he was very 
anxious to find him, but his searchings and in- 
quiries were vain. He never found the man. 
He has been heard to say when he became rich 
that he w r ould give ten thousand dollars to get 
rid of the self-contempt with which he was 
haunted whenever he thought of that incident. 
His gratification w T as short-lived, and it left him 
a pang which he never ceased to feel down to old 
age. A life of beautiful piety and benevolence 
could not dig a grave deep enough to bury that 
" dirty shilling" in. 

Many mean deeds of this kind are kept secret, 
and yet the pleasure derived from them affords 
no compensation for the penalty inflicted by 
memory and conscience. 

But the most of the evil deeds which flow from 

a bad character and procure for the evil-doer a 

bad reputation cannot be concealed. In spite of 

human depravity there is a sentiment adverse to 

the grosser crimes which sets people to watching 

one another, so that concealment is very difficult. 

Suppose a man to become addicted to drinking 

intoxicating liquors; some one must sell the 
10 



110 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

liquors to him, and therefore the main fact is 
known. But not only is this true, but his drink- 
ing will be apparent in his face and his habits. 
He cannot be a drunkard secretly, nor can he be 
a gambler secretly, because he must play with 
some one, and in some way the fact gets out. 
Many men indulge in these disreputable habits, 
not suspecting that their conduct is known, but 
the old saying is verified in them: "Be sure your 
sin will find you out." 

One fact is very singular, that transgressors 
have so little sympathy with one another. When 
Judas in his agony said to them who induced 
him to betray Jesus, " I have sinned in that I 
have betrayed innocent blood," with the most 
utter heartlessness they replied, " What is that to 
us ? See thou to that." If several persons are 
suspected of a crime, the probability is that each 
one will try to shift the burden from himself to 
some other one. 

In a retired country place was an innkeeper 
who sold rum in a quiet way, not wishing to be 
involved in the disagreeable consequences of a 
more public traffic. One man often visited his 
bar until he was regarded as a hopeless drunkard, 
but to the surprise of his neighbors this man 



A BAD NAME. Ill 

reformed, and for a time appeared well. After 
some months his appetite for liquor revived, and 
he went into that tavern secretly. The landlord 
did not warn him to avoid the temptation, but 
asked him to drink ! No one was present at the 
interview. By and by the reformed man was 
worse than ever. People asked how it came to 
pass, but the fact was not known until the man 
himself with bitter maledictions on his tempter 
stated the fact. 

And thus, through the agency of conscience, 
the watchfulness of society, and the heartlessness 
of companions in sin, there are nine chances out 
of ten that the deeds which make a bad reputa- 
tion for their doer will become public. If a 
young man tipple, or gamble, or pilfer, or attend 
improper places of amusement, or associate with 
immoral companions, the fact will come out, and 
the influence of it be felt in his reputation. 

A bad reputation will be a great damage to its 
unfortunate owner. 

THE PERMANENCE OF A BAD REPUTATION. 

It is far easier to spoil a good name than to re- 
trieve it when it is exchanged for a bad name, 
and in this fact we find a most emphatic warning 



112 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

to beware of trifling with our good name. We 
sometimes hear such a comment as this on the 
reported misconduct of some person, " I am pre- 
pared to believe it, for it is just like him !" His 
reputation is bad, and it is permanent. 

In a certain school many years ago there was a 
young man who had been to sea, and among 
other things had learned how to tattoo the hu- 
man flesh with India ink. He had not been in 
the school long before he had put his marks on 
many of his companions. He had printed an- 
chors and serpents and ships on their arms, stars 
between their thumb and finger, and rings on 
the finger. The boys thought it very fine indeed, 
and often paraded the curious figures on their 
arms and hands, but after a while they began to 
wish the figures were not there, and, in fact, in 
their folly often resorted to soap and water in 
hopes to remove the stain. These stains did not 
yield to soap nor to any other means. What the 
young sailor did in a few minutes will stick to these 
young men through life. A bad reputation is 
almost as hard to get rid of as this tattooing on 
the boys' arms. 

A good name, like a beautiful face, when once 
marred by misconduct, cannot be restored easily 



A BAD NAME. 113 

to its former beauty. Suppose a comely young 
man should perversely resolve to tattoo his face 
with hideous figures. A few hours would suffice 
to accomplish the folly, but no ingenuity or pains- 
taking would be able to remove the deformity 
and restore the lost beauty. A beautiful child 
in one moment may become hopelessly scarred by 
scalding, burning or an unfortunate slash with 
a knife. It is so with a good name. It is ex- 
ceedingly hard to convert a bad name into a good 
name. The bad possession is easily obtained, 
but extremely hard to be rid of. Like a shadow, 
it follows and haunts its victim wherever he goes. 
A young man of excellent talents and blame- 
less reputation was attending school. His means 
were quite limited, and one day he found a ten- 
dollar bill. Instead of advertising it, he said 
nothing about the matter. The same day an ad- 
vertisement in the " Bulletin" announced that 

Mr. had lost a ten-dollar bill. The way of 

restoration was open. The student, balanced on 
a pivot, at last determined to retain the money 
for the flimsy reason that its real owner was rich 
and would not miss it, while it was a great prize 
to a poor young man ! Meanwhile, a description 

of the bill had been sent to the stores in the vil- 
10* H 



114 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

lage, and in about three weeks the deluded find- 
er, presenting it at a store on the opposite side of 
the river, was detected. He was sent away from 
the institution in disgrace. Afterward he was 
permitted to return, but his bad reputation came 
with him, and finally drove him away. Should 
he ever return to that place, he will find that the 
bad reputation achieved by that single act is still 
alive. He has removed many hundred miles 
from the scene of his disgrace, but a bad reputa- 
tion has wings and has followed him. He will 
feel the influence of that mean deed until he is 
removed by death. 

A bad reputation is like the poisoned shirt 
which Nessus gave to the wife of Hercules, pre- 
tending that if her husband wore it, it would keep 
his love faithful to her; but when Hercules put it 
on he could not put it off, and so the deadly gift 
destroyed him. 

Alas for him who has so permanent a possession 
as a bad reputation, which he can neither sell nor 
give away, run from nor bury ! 

ONE PECULIARITY OF A BAD REPUTATION. 

People are either unable or unwilling to for- 
get the evil deeds of others. 



A BAD NAME. 115 

" The evil that men do lives after them ; 
The good is oft interred with their bones." 

Some seem to regard it as a perverseness of 
human nature that the wicked and mean actions 
of men are so carefully remembered, but the fact 
is not so much a proof of human perverseness as 
of divine retribution. 

Many years ago a man named Brakeman was 
traveling in company with a peddler from Mon- 
trose, Pennsylvania, to Philadelphia. They cross- 
ed the Delaware at Milford, and passed through 
Sussex county, New Jersey. From Sparta to 
Woodport in that county the road crosses a 
mountain, and is very lonely. Not a mile from 
Sparta are the remains of an old lime-kiln, and 
very often you hear people say as they pass by it, 
"That was the place where Brakeman tried to 
push the peddler into the lime-kiln !" A mile 
farther east you come to a lonely place, and prob- 
ably there is not a day in the year when travelers 
passing that way do not point out the spot where 
the peddler's body, "shockingly mangled, .... and 
the large knife and club which Brakeman car- 
ried," were found. Afterward a little tavern was 
built by the roadside and called "Brakeman's 
tavern," and subsequently the toll-gate was put 



116 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

up there and called "Brakeman's Gate." You go 
to the county seat, and the people point you to 
the spot where Brakeman was hung. That 
bloody deed will never be washed out of the 
popular memory, and the name of this bad 
man will be mentioned with horror in all time 
to come. 

As you pass down South street in Morristown, 
New Jersey, you often hear persons say, point- 
ing to a certain house, "There La Blanc mur- 
dered the Sayre family I" No doubt a hundred 
people every day think of La Blanc as they pass 
the house. His bad reputation will live for a 
long time to come, because the people cannot, if 
they would, forget him. 

When Solomon said, "The name of the wicked 
shall rot," he did not mean chiefly that their name 
should be forgotten, but that it should be regarded 
with loathing. 

What is true of such atrocious deeds is true to 
some extent of all wicked deeds. It seems as if 
a bad reputation was endowed with a sort of 
retributive immortality. In a certain community 
there lived an exceedingly interesting Christian 
gentleman. By many he was esteemed a model 
man, and in most respects he was such ; but a 



A BAD NAME. 117 

stranger once, in making some official inquiries, 
stumbled on one of the "sins of his youth." 
Astonished, the stranger asked if this thing was 
commonly known. "Oh, to be sure it is! such 
things are never forgotten !" was the significant 
reply. Quite similar was another experience. A 
clergyman once spoke in terms of eulogy of a cer- 
tain man whose funeral he was attending. Not 
long after a plain man asked him if he had ever 
heard that the deceased so many years ago did 
such and such mean deeds, and that in conse- 
quence people called him by a certain reproachful 
name. All this was new to the minister, but 
fresh in the popular memory. 

This is a peculiarity of a bad reputation, that it 
survives all attempts to extinguish it. A man 
may seek to eclipse it by a reputation for learn- 
ing, or wit, or wealth, or to hide it by unnum- 
bered deeds of real goodness, and yet the bad 
reputation will survive. 

This is a very impressive truth, and might be 
illustrated to any extent if it were necessary. 

EVIL COMMUNICATIONS. 

Before discussing the subject of a bad name, a 
few words must be said on the subject of evil 



118 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

companionships. There is scarcely a subject which 
gives considerate parents so much trouble, and 
which is so full of interest to the young. Society 
of some kind is a necessity. 

Alexander Selkirk, in his " Solitude," is most 
naturally made to say : 

"Oh tell me that I yet have a friend, 
Though a friend I am never to see." 

A man closely imprisoned is said to have formed 
such an attachment to a mouse that he was almost 
heartbroken when it was taken away. In another 
instance, a prisoner gratified the social instinct by 
loving a toad. There never was a more unnatural 
character than St. Simon Stylites living alone in 
his pillar of stone. Man to be happy must have 
some kind of companionship. 

Sir John Malcolm, in his " Sketches of Persia," 
quotes the following fable : 

" One day, as I was in the bath, a friend of 
mine put into my hand a piece of scented clay. 
I took it and said to it, 'Art thou musk or am- 
bergris, for I am charmed with thy perfume?' It 
answered, ' I was a despicable piece of clay, but I 
was some time in the company of the rose. The 
sweet quality of my companion was communicated 



A BAD NAME. 119 

to me : otherwise I should be only a bit of clay, as 
I appear to be !' " 

That youth is specially favored who is thrown 
under the influence of good companions. Such 
society is elevating to all who come within its 
reach. But when the young are subjected to evil 
companionships they are in great danger. The 
conduct of a certain young man was a puzzle to 
his friends for years. The mystery was that the 
son of pious parents should pursue an openly 
v/icked course. In due time the mystery was ex- 
plained by the fact that a man in his father's em- 
ploy had gained a powerful influence over the boy, 
inoculating him with a vice which ruined him. 
This bad beginning was aggravated by other com- 
panions, who tempted him to secret indulgence, 
until at last his wrong-doing could no longer be 
concealed. He lived and died a proof that "evil 
communications corrupt good manners." 

At any period of life evil companions are dan- 
gerous, but especially so in the period of youth. 
In a certain village there resided a bright, plaus- 
ible and zealous skeptic. He was a pleasant 
talker, and communicated his skepticism in the 
way least calculated to arouse prejudice. He was 
constantly surrounded with young men and half- 



120 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

grown boys, and before his mischief was suspect- 
ed he had sent a dozen of these youths adrift on 
the unlighted sea of skepticism. His bad work 
is still visible though more than half a century is 
gone and the bad man has been dead many years. 

In some cases a circle of bad boys, or even a 
single boy, will corrupt a whole school through 
the channel of companionship. One such scholar 
can and sometimes does inflict lifelong injuries 
on companions who, up to that unfortunate time, 
have been pure in all respects. In this way some 
have become confirmed skeptics, others have 
learned to " look on the wine when it is red," 
and others to go to " her house which is the way 
to hell, going down to the chambers of death." 

Evil companions are more to be dreaded than 
wild beasts. A young lad was away from home a 
few months, and during the time became intimate 
with an infidel, who acquired a great influence 
over him. That influence was exerted successfully 
to unsettle the boy's faith in the Bible and Chris- 
tianity. Before he was a man he could speak of 
the " cunningly-devised fables" of religion. 

There are very few who have been ruined by 
vicious courses whose vices could not be traced 
back directly to evil companions. No pestilence 



A BAD NAME. 121 

is so to be dreaded by the young as a vicious 
comrade, and they should be more on their guard 
against this danger than against small pox or 
cholera. Constant contact with such is likely to 
lead to any kind of sinful and hurtful indulgence. 
By this process the very serious natural obstacles 
in the way of using tobacco are overcome, and 
men are made by this habit as truly slaves as if 
they were drunkards. In this way persons be- 
come drunkards, gamblers and revelers. In this 
very way thousands of the young every year sac- 
rifice their good character and reputation, and be- 
come the miserable possessors of a bad name 
which will dog them to the grave as surely as 
their own ever-pursuing shadows. 

Scarcely a more important warning can be ad- 
dressed to the young than this, "Beware of evil 
companions" If a companion use oaths, abandon 
his society at once. If he tipple, or if he sneer 
at the Bible and religion, or if he indulge in low 
anecdotes or vile conversation, or if he even hint 
the vilest temptation, flee from him as you would 
from a poisonous serpent seeking to enfold you in 
his deadly coils. Pray to God to save you from 
evil companions, for they often seduce their vic- 
tims to destruction before their deadly intentions 
11 



122 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

are suspected. " Blessed is the man that walk- 
eth not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand- 
eth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat 
of the scornful." "My son, if sinners entice 

thee, consent thou not Walk not in the way 

with them, refrain thy foot from their path." "A 
companion of fools shall be destroyed." 

He who would preserve his good name must 
remember that "evil communications corrupt 
good manners." 



CHAPTER X 




UPWARD AIMS. 

E are liable to present a wrong motive to 
the young by endeavoring to inspire them 
with that sort of ambition which is the off- 
® <0 spring of selfishness and pride. And yet 
it is right to make up one's mind to excel in every 
lawful undertaking. An old maxim tells us that 
"the archer who would hit the moon must aim at 
the sun." This thought has its applications to all 
the pursuits and positions of life. We should do 
the very best we can in whatever situation we 
may be, and this is to aim upward. 

What are some of the good results likely to flow 
from having upward aims f 



IT MAKES A PERSON ECONOMICAL OF TIME. 

To waste time is to be guilty of a fault which 
may be fatal to success in any undertaking ; the 

123 



124 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

practical use of time in large measure accounts 
for the successes and failures of people in life. 

There is a man who has acquired a property 
worth several thousand dollars, while several of 
his neighbors who began with fairer prospects 
than himself own nothing. His time was care- 
fully filled up with labor, to gratify his resolu- 
tion "to better his situation." In the summer he 
would cultivate his garden and little farm be- 
fore and after the regular working-hours, thus 
saving his day's work and feeding his family by 
his work at times when his neighbors were resting. 

The late Colonel was a man of very general 

information, and had read as large a number of 
books as many men of leisure, although he was 
carrying on an extensive and harassing business. 
His book was laid where he could take it up 
without loss of time if he had a few minutes of 
leisure. In this way he secured hours every 
week for reading which would have been lost but 
for his noble upward aim. 

The late Dr. Hildreth of Marietta, while in 
the midst of an extensive practice, kept up with 
the general literature of the day. Every valuable 
history, every new work on geology, chemistry, 
mineralogy, and other books of worth he read 



UPWARD AIMS. 125 

carefully, without interfering with the demands 
of his profession. Dr. V. of Johnsonburg has 
an extensive country practice, and yet there are 
few men who have read more books than he. He 
keeps up with his professional literature; has read 
the works of every modern historian of any note 
— Macaulay, Prescott, Bancroft, Motley, Neander, 
Schaff ; he has read a large number of theological 
books and commentaries. "He is a well-read 
man," as the saying is. And how do these physi- 
cians accomplish so much in the face of such 
difficulties ? They both rise so early as to get an 
hour or two for their favorite occupation before 
breakfast, and the book in hand is so placed that 
they can employ any leisure moments during the 
day. 

If a young man has a will to better his condi- 
tion, he will show it in his economy of time; and 
if he have this quality, he has one grand element 
of success in life. 

Included in this item is industry, for a person 
cannot be economical of time and yet not be in- 
dustrious. 
11* 



126 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

WATCHING FOR OPPORTUNITIES. 

This habit of mind gives a person a practical and 
sagacious watchfulness for special opportunities of 
success. Not many years ago a poor boy might 
have been seen in a certain village. He was ani- 
mated with a determination to "rise in the world." 
At school he was on the alert to do the best he 
could. If he ranked a pile of wood, or worked 
in some one's garden, or ran to do an errand, the 
great resolution to rise in the world kept him 
prompt in performing present duty, and watchful 
for anything better. Hence, from an errand-boy 
he became the clerk of a country store. Having 
established his character there, he was ready to 
be advanced to a higher post in a city establish- 
ment. Here his promptness and energy soon 
gained for him the confidence of his employers, 
made him indispensable to them. In due time 
he became a partner, and at last "the head 
of the house." Had it not been for his deter- 
mination to rise, he would have slept through 
the golden opportunities of success, instead of im- 
proving them as they offered. 

Success in any pursuit is usually the result of 
determined and watchful effort, and when a 



UPWARD AIMS. 127 

young man aims to do something worthy, and to 
rise in the world, he will eagerly watch for that 

"Tide in the affairs of men 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." 

IT ALSO FUBXISHES AX OBJECT TO BE ATTAINED. 

We are so constituted that we accomplish more 
when seeking a definite object than when we 
work at random. Suppose a traveler listlessly 
set out on his journey in the morning, neither 
thinking nor caring whether he accomplished 
twenty or forty miles before night. The day 
will pass without his doing much. But suppose 
in the evening he learns from his landlord that a 
certain town is forty miles distant, and he says, 
"I can easily drive to such a tavern, twelve miles, 
to breakfast. By one o'clock I can be at such a 
village, twenty miles farther on, to dinner, and at 
sunset I can be at the end of the proposed day's 
journey." He works to fulfill a plan. 

A pastor may start from his house without a 
definite plan before him as to where he will go 
and whom he will visit, and he will not be likely 
to do as much as if he were to say, " Here are so 
many families, and I will visit them to-day." 

It is indispensable to success to have some- 



128 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

thing ahead which is in our estimation desirable. 
Take the case of a boy in a public school. By 
trial he has found himself able to comprehend 
the principles of arithmetic and grammar. His 
memory and imagination aid him in studying 
geography. From his " reading books" he ob- 
tains a few tastes of history, eloquence, philoso- 
phy and poetry, and these create a hunger for an 
education. Perhaps the clergyman or lawyer of 
the village visits the school and casually tells the 
scholars how lie obtained an education, and that 
if any boy here really desires to get an education, 
he can do it. That poorly-clad boy says to him- 
self, "I will have it." That purpose in his heart 
will make a new being of him. His powers are 
strung to get all that he can from his present 
limited opportunities, and in due time he can 
teach others in the common school. Perhaps for 
some service rendered he finds himself able to 
buy a Latin grammar, and he begins to do what 
he can in it. It may take fifteen years to get an 
education, as he may be obliged to teach one year 
to gain the means of studying the next year, and 
yet he will come through the struggle a noble 
man, and will take a high place in society. Had 
he not been animated with noble upward aims he 



UPWARD AIMS. 129 

never could have achieved such success. His 
destiny turned on this single resolution, to rise in 
this particular way. 

IT INVIGORATES THE FACULTIES. 

Some years ago there was a young man at work 
cutting and polishing gravestones in a certain 
establishment in Cincinnati. In carving the 
various devices common on monuments he dis- 
played a ready talent, and that not merely imitat- 
ing the designs of others, but in drawing original 
designs. His success in these undertakings stim- 
ulated him to attempt to make models of men 
well known in the city, in which he succeeded 
remarkably for a novice. All this while he was 
agitated with the questions, "Am I always to be 
a gravestone cutter ? Is there no way by which 
I may become an artist in some higher sphere ?" 
Such self-questionings and such upward aims took 
him to Italy and won for him the fame of the 
first living sculptor in the w T orld. 

If a young man wishes to do anything w r orthy, 
he must have a definite object before him to be 
attained. This is o.ne of the most important 
rssults of having an upw T ard aim. 

It exerts a surprising influence on all the physical, 



130 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

mental and moral facilities to have a worthy up- 
ward aim. The consciousness of accomplishing 
something noble is very exhilarating, especially 
if serious obstacles are to be overcome. A few 
years ago a young lad resolved that he would get 
an education. He had no means of his own and 
could look for very little from his friends. He 
set himself manfully at his work. Occasionally 
in the earlier stages of his education he found 
opportunities to earn some money by working at 
nights, on Saturdays and during vacations. He 
was not dainty as to the kind of work, if it were 
" honest and would pay." He was ready to saw 
up a wood-pile or copy a legal instrument, or to 
do anything that came to hand. When he stud- 
ied he did it with his whole mind, and when he 
worked he did it with energy. There was anima- 
tion in all his conduct at the wood-pile, w his 
study and in his class-room. When he gave you 
his "good-morning" his voice had a cheery tone, 
which showed what a noble upward aim was 
doing for him. For years he encountered v^ry 
serious difficulties in his course, but all his facul- 
ties seemed to grow strong by resistance. At Kst 
he brought his diploma home and put it in his 
mother's hands. His upward aim had given an- 



UPWARD AIMS. 131 

imation, force and hopefulness to all his faculties, 
and here was the pleasing proof of success. 

In contrast with him was another boy who pro- 
fessed a desire to get an education. He began 
his course, and soon came to difficulties. It was 
not long before it became evident that he had no 
higher aim than to find an easier path through 
life than that of the farmer or mechanic. His 
aim was to shun difficulty and labor. A difficult 
problem in arithmetic or a hard sentence in the 
Latin Reader had no charms for him, and was 
usually passed over with some insincere excuse to 
his teacher. As for obtaining the means of edu- 
cation by " eating the bread of carefulness," by 
early rising and energetic use of his time in some 
remunerative employment, he could not think of 
it. In fact, his pursuits soon became irksome. He 
was attentive to his books only by "fits and 
starts." He fell behind his class. Any pleasure 
excursion of young people would easily tempt 
him from his books. In due time he sunk back 
to his original level, having lost the respect and 
confidence of those who had hoped better things 
of him. The main defect seemed to be the want 
of an intention to accomplish some worthy object. 

And lest these remarks be misunderstood to 



132 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

mean that the young can have no worthy upward 
aim unless they resolve to leave some lowly but 
honorable calling for one more honorable in pop- 
ular esteem, let it be said that this noble aim 
upward may be shown in any honest posi- 
tion or sphere. Take the case of a young man 
trained to work on a farm. He was not remark- 
able for his proficiency in his studies. And yet 
whilst in school there was a noble way with 
him which indicated his design to act his part 
well. "When he made a profession of religion he 
did it heartily, and his conduct showed his sin- 
cerity. He was prompt in duty, and his life 
seemed to say to those about him as Moses said to 
Hobab, " Come thou with us, and we will do thee 
good." He was a lover of the gospel, and wished 
to give it to others. When the collection for for- 
eign or home missions or the Bible society was 
made, people were surprised to learn, in spite of 
his endeavors to hide the fact, that he always had 
five or ten dollars laid up for that cause. He is a 
plain farmer and his hands are as hard as horn. 
He owns a farm of a hundred acres. Every rail 
is in place, the barns and out-houses are in fine 
repair, his garden is neat, and around his house 
you see the running rose and honeysuckle. His 



UPWARD AIMS. 133 

home is a very happy one. It is a privilege to 
see his family assembled for worship. That man 
has been moved as really by a noble upward aim 
as the one who gained a liberal education, and he 
has been as successful. 

The humblest person in the humblest position 
may aim upward and achieve this great success 
of doing the best thing possible. Such a course 
would shed light into many a dwelling now dark- 
ened by sheer listlessness and indifference, and 
would impart the animation of hope to many who 
are sunk in despondency. If we carefully watch 
the conduct of young men who frequent saloons, 
spend their evenings in the unprofitable associations 
of the store or bar-room, or in low and degrading 
pleasures, and ask the reason why they can submit 
to such a waste of time and risk the danger of 
attending such society, we shall find that this con- 
duct may be traced in part at least to their lack 
of a purpose in life. They are not animated by 
an intention to do something good and noble. 
Supply that lack, and it will drive them away 
from these places of temptation and change the 
complexion of their lives. In truth, any young 
man is in danger of ruin who is not under the in- 
fluence of some worthy upward aim. 
12 




CHAPTER XI. 

THE NOBLEST AIM. 

HE boy who aspired after money in order 
that he might buy a comfortable home for 
his mother had a nobler aim than the boy 
who sought after wealth merely to better 
his own condition. How much nobler the aims 
of the philanthropist Howard and of the unsel- 
fish Florence Nightingale than those which in- 
spired Cromwell and Napoleon ! Sir Humphrey 
Davy aimed to provide the miners of England 
with a " safety lamp" as a means of saving them 
from the terrible explosions to which they were 
exposed. Jenner sought a way to check the 
ravages of small pox, and at last presented to his 
fellow-men the blessing of vaccination. Watt 
aimed to harness the power of steam and compel 
it to become a mighty worker for man. Fulton 
and Stephenson aimed to apply steam to the mov- 
ing of boats and land carriages. How much nobler 

134 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 135 

are such aims than those which animate the mere 
conqueror or amasser of wealth! It is easy to 
perceive the great difference there is among even 
worthy aims. 

What is the noblest aim? Does it imply some 
striking result that shall dazzle the world? The 
tubular bridge over the Menai Straits is one of 
grandest achievements of man, and the world 
extols the name of Stephenson, who built it. To 
convey an army over the Alps with all the muni- 
tions of war, as Napoleon did by the St. Bernard 
and as Suwarrow did by St. Gothard, is an enter- 
prise so difficult, so vast, so brilliant, that we 
look at it with profound admiration. To make and 
lay down in the ocean separating the Old World 
and New a magnetic cable, and through it commu- 
nicate messages from America to Europe, was an 
achievement that excited the nations with delight, 
and it seemed as if the very floods clapped their 
hands. We instinctively applaud any great 
achievement, whether it be the cutting a tunnel 
through a mountain, spanning the Niagara with 
a bridge capable of bearing the heaviest railway 
trains, conducting the exodus of a nation of bond- 
men out of Egypt, the deliverance of a people 
from a foreign master, or any other great achieve- 



136 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

ment. With thrilling interest we mention the 
names of Moses, David, Cromwell, William the 
Silent, Washington, Watt, Newton, Daguerre, 
Morse, and those great men who have done great 
things in the world. 

Does the nobler aim one can have imply some 
splendid achievement like those just mentioned? 
If it does, then it is evident that only one in a 
million can have such an upward aim. The 
masses of people are not endowed with natural 
gifts fitting them for the accomplishment of such 
deeds. The men sufficiently distinguished to be 
named in history are very few. Those who are 
forgotten are very many. It is a very singular 
fact that in Rollings " Ancient History of the 
Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, 
Medes and Persians, Grecians, Romans," etc., cov- 
ering a period of more than two thousand years, 
there were only about two thousand names of 
sufficient note to be mentioned in a copious index! 
Of these names very many are not familiar even 
to scholars ; to the masses of people most of even 
these historical names are unknown. The hun- 
dreds of millions who dwelt on the earth during 
that period are entirely forgotten. It would be 
mockery then to counsel young men to aspire to 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 137 

such a notoriety as Alexander, Napoleon or 
Newton had, knowing that not one in a hundred 
millions can reach it. 

Every young man should make the best use of 
his talents, carefully cultivating and invigorating 
them as his opportunities admit, but let it be 
marked that no mere mental attainment, how- 
ever brilliant, can constitute the highest aim to 
be sought. This implies the exercise of the 
noblest faculties — those which ally man to God. 
As a moral being, man is created in the image of 
God. From this estate he has fallen, and one of 
the saddest evidences of his fall is found in his 
low aims. He lives to himself, he seeks his own 
gratification, and "God is not in all his thoughts." 
If he follow the path of conquest, the love of self 
impels him. If he explore the secret places of 
the earth for the treasures there concealed, the 
same selfish motive inspires him. If he apply the 
power of his mind to explain the mysteries of 
nature in the heavens and the earth and the 
waters under the earth, he is not moved thereto 
by a desire to glorify God. He may call it the 
love of science, or the love of nature, or the love 
of an honorable name among men, yet the motive 
is one that seeks to minister to his self-gratifica- 

12* 



138 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

tion. Even in the less conspicuous, but not less 
important walks of life, which centre in home, by 
nature man does not rise above some species of 
selfishness. Many a character which the world has 
pronounced noble when tried by the law of God 
has shrunk into the most intense selfishness. 

TWO CASES IN POINT. 

Some years ago a young man was pursuing his 
studies in college with great success. He was 
not a pious man, but his deportment was that of 
a gentleman among his companions. He was not 
obsequious in his attentions to "the Faculty," but 
he was a manly observer of the rules of the insti- 
tution. He had too much good sense to contrast 
his conduct with that of inconsistent professors, 
but there were persons who drew the contrast in 
colors sometimes quite unfavorable to religion. 
With not a little emphasis you would hear such 
ask, " In what respect can religion better the con- 
duct or character of ?" 

That question was to be answered. During 
the winter of his junior year the college was per- 
vaded with powerful religious influences. The 
young men walked quietly through the halls as 
if on holy ground. The sounds of song and 






THE NOBLEST AIM. 139 

laughter were not heard. The chapel exercises 
were marked with profound solemnity, and go 
into what room you would, you would find signs 
of God's presence. Scores were rejoicing in hope, 
but, strange as it may seem, no one had felt at 
liberty to approach this moral young man on this 
great theme which engrossed the attention of all 
others. One evening an intimate friend went to 
his room to ask him to seek the Lord, but was 
astounded to find himself rudely commanded to 
leave the room, and never again to open his lips 
to him on so hateful a subject ! The model 
student was in an agony of conviction, and raged 
like a lion in the toils. We all wondered at the 
sight, but as the Spirit of God tore away the cov- 
erings with which the deceitful and desperately 
wicked heart had concealed itself not merely from 
our knowledge, but from that of the young man 
himself, he seemed to himself to be a very devil in 
wickedness. All his prided goodness had van- 
ished, and in place of that he saw that he had 
never done one holy act in all his life, because he 
had been moral and kind and decorous from 
entirely selfish motives. He had never aimed to 
glorify and love God. Hence his rage and con- 
fusion and shame as the Spirit of God compelled 



140 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

him to look into his polluted heart, up to that 
time like an unlighted dungeon full of loathsome 
reptiles and reeking with filth. The most pro- 
fane and openly wicked of his companions seemed 
to him saints in the comparison. In a few days 
he found peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ; and as the marvelous change in him was 
seen, there was found no scoffer to ask what bene- 
fit a change of heart could be to so moral a young 
man. His life was one controlled by motives 
and aims entirely new to him. 

Very similar to this was the case of a young 
man who had lost his father. The responsibility 
of providing for the family fell on him. It was 
a trying position, which required him to abandon 
a favorite occupation, and to engage in pursuits 
which were not to his taste. There were some 
peculiar perplexities which attended his discharge 
of duty, and yet no one ever heard him name the 
sacrifice of position and inclination he had made, 
nor utter a fretful complaint at the annoyances 
which he had to encounter. People applauded 
his manliness and his dutiful affection to those 
dependent on him. To these praises he was not 
deaf, and they ministered to the vanity of his de- 
ceived heart. As he afterward admitted, he had 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 141 

built a firm hope of heaven on his self-righteous- 
ness. In what could he be better ? What more 
could he do even if he were professedly religious ? 
Would he be more honest in business ? — more at- 
tentive to his widowed mother and her children? — 
more exemplary as a supporter of the church, and 
an observer of the Sabbath ? — more worthy as a 
citizen ? 

The time came for God to try his foundation, 
and he might have described the trial in the 
words of Job : " I was at ease, but he hath broken 
me asunder. He hath also taken me by my neck 
and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his 

mark He breaketh me with breach upon 

breach. He runneth upon me like a giant." 1 
During a season of revival his mind was disturb- 
ed with the fear that his hope of heaven was not 
built on a sure foundation. He believed that a 
great many wicked people needed to undergo 
great spiritual change, but for a time he resisted 
and resented the idea that he needed such a 
change. But the more he thought of the claims 
of God, not only to a perfect outward conformity 
to his laws, but to such a state of heart as that 
supreme love to God shall be the great motive of 
1 Job xvi. 12-14. 



142 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

all action, the more unsettled did he become. His 
former hopes were fled, and he was left very un- 
happy. The conviction had taken firm hold of 
his mind that he had never done one act from a 
desire to glorify God. He had been caring for 
his widowed mother and her children because 
upon the whole such a course would give himself 
the most profit and satisfaction. He had put up 
with the many annoyances of his situation be- 
cause it won for him so good a name among his 
acquaintances. Had he shunned all responsibil- 
ity and cast off his helpless charge to get rid of 
trouble, he could not have been more truly selfish 
than in his present course. What cared he about 
God? How little had the love of God to do 
with conduct which was in itself admirable ! 

As he was thus taught of the Spirit, it surpris- 
ed no Christian of experience to hear this admir- 
able son, this attentive brother, this model citizen, 
saying, with heart-breaking grief, as if he were 
the chief of sinners, " God, be merciful to me a 
sinner !" Had he been " before a blasphemer," 
the change in him could not have been more dis- 
tinctly visible. 

These illustrations will show how entirely sel- 
fish a person may be in many of those aims which 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 143 

are deemed noble among men, and which in some 
cases become a righteousness which supplants the 
righteousness of Christ. The noblest aim must 
be inspired by a higher principle than a godless 
selfishness. 

THE QUESTION ANSWERED. 

What then is the noblest upward aim to 
the attainment of which we may encourage the 
young ? It is to live and act in all things so as 
to glorify God and show the love of Christ. 
Joshua said: "As for me and my house we will 
serve the Lord," and the Apostle Paul said : " The 
love of Christ constraineth us." 

We admire and applaud those good acts which 
are done under higher than sordid motives. 
Some men are brave in rescuing persons from 
danger in hope of reward ; others are no less 
brave because it wins for them a noble name, and 
others for the love of God and man. Suppose a 
case : A poor stranger has been removed to a 
lonely cabin on yonder hill because he has the 
small pox. The question is put to three men, 
" Will you go and take care of this man ?" The 
first one says, "I am willing to risk the danger 
for five dollars a day." The second one says, " I 



144 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

will take care of him because in so doing I shall 
bring upon myself the admiration of others as a 
brave and humane man." The third says, "I 
will take care of him because he is my brother 
and to show my love of Jesus." 

We would not blame the first one for naming 
his price, nor would we think of applauding his 
goodness any more than we would the goodness 
of any other laborer naming the wages for which 
he is willing to work. Judged by human stand- 
ards, the conduct of the second one was far nobler 
than that of the first. Fame is a word that sounds 
sweetly in the human ear, and for it many have 
risked death in the most awful forms. Yet the 
difference between the one willing to nurse the 
small-pox patient for so much money, and the one 
who is willing to do it for so much fame, is not 
so great as might at first appear. In each case 
the aspiration was purely selfish, and the difference 
in the rewards demanded for the sendees could be 
traced to a difference in taste. 

But the third one was willing to go to the 
lonely cabin on the hilltop, spend tedious days 
and nights alone with the sufferer, handle him in 
his loathesomeness, breathe the infected atmosphere, 
and stay with him until the disease had spent it- 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 145 

self, not for the love of money, nor for the love 
of fame, but for the love he bore to that sufferer 
as his brother man and to Jesus as his Saviour. 
He would do it if there were no reward in money, 
or if his conduct were to remain a profound 
secret. The love of Christ constrained him. There 
was such a cabin in which once lay such a sufferer 
in horrible loneliness and loathesomeness, away 
from his mother and his wife, and a young 
Christian man nursed him with the tenderness of 
a woman until he died. He neither asked nor 
received reward, nor did he apparently once think 
of fame. The motive which impelled him was 
the love of the sufferer and the love of Jesus. 
The almost infinite superiority of this motive to 
all others we instinctively admit. 

Is this answer merely ideal, that the noblest of 
all upward aims is to love and act in all things 
under the impelling power of the desire to glorify 
God and love Jesus ? The most sordid men ad- 
mit the beauty and superiority of the motive, and 
yet very many doubt whether such a motive can 
exist except as the dream of some enthusiast. 
They deny the existence of such a motive as a 
practical and attainable reality. It is some gain 
to have this heavenly ideal admitted even in 
13 K 



146 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

theory. Let us see whether it does not exist in 
fact 

MOSES AND PAUL. 

A case from the Old Testament and one from 
the New will prove that the fact here asserted has 
existed. 

A young man, one of an enslaved and despised 
race, had become the adopted son of a princess in a 
powerful and learned nation. Endowed with a 
surpassing genius and the highest advantages of 
education, he became the most noted youth in the 
kingdom. His mental faculties were perfectly 
trained and his stores of knowledge were vast. 
In addition to these qualities, he was fitted by 
nature and education to command men. There 
was no position next to the king which he might 
not have attained, there was no wealth which he 
might not have hoped to gain, and no worldly 
pleasure or good which was not within his reach. 
His own people were in bondage, and were both 
despised and dreaded by their oppressors. To be 
numbered with them was to fall from his posi- 
tion in the court, and apparently to sacrifice every 
worldly prospect. 

Had Moses been governed by worldly and sel- 
fish motives, he would have chosen the plea- 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 147 

sures, honors and rewards of remaining in so 
enviable a position as that to which he had at- 
tained. He certainly would not have chosen to 
Buffer affliction with the people of God rather 
than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. A 
worldly mind never prefers duty and affliction to 
the highest worldly prosperity. Look at that 
young man deliberately refusing to be called the 
son of Pharaoh's daughter, joining himself to the 
enslaved and despised Israelites, going into a 
long and apparently hopeless exile, and you see 
a very remarkable fact disclosed. Is it asked, 
What was the motive leading him to such a choice? 
It was faith in God, and his desire to please God, 
for "he endured as seeing Him who is invisible." 
No ordinary motive will account for the choice. 

If Moses was the greatest man mentioned in 
Old Testament history, Paul is the greatest in the 
New. There dwelt a breadth, depth, greatness 
and force in this man which have never been sur- 
passed. These were not miraculous attributes, 
but they belonged to him as part of his nature. 
His intellect was gifted with most keen percep- 
tions and most vigorous reasoning faculties. 
After the crucifixion of Jesus, whom he never 
saw before his conversion, and after that first 



148 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

great awakening was turning Jerusalem and the 
world upside down, this man alone of the enemies 
of Christ had sufficient sagacity to perceive that 
the very existence of his own devoutly believed 
Judaism depended on the destruction of the new 
religion, and that the object could not be attained 
by any half-way measures. His nature was earnest 
and passionate, and when he was convinced that 
the new religion must be exterminated, he set 
himself to do it with all his might. His burning 
earnestness pervaded the ranks of his friends. He 
was the chieftain in this war, and his force sent 
spies into every house in Jerusalem to discover 
and drag to prison all the followers of Jesus. No 
language can be more historically true or forcible 
than his own in describing himself at this period : 
"I verily thought with myself that I ought to do 
many things contrary to the name of Jesus of 
Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem; 
and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, 
having received authority from the chief priests ; 
and when they were put to death I gave my voice 
against them. And I punished them oft in every 
synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme (Jesus) ; 
and being exceedingly mad against them, I per- 
secuted them even unto strange cities." The sig- 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 149 

nificant remark of the historian is: "As for Saul, 
lie made havoc of the Church , entering into every 
house, and haling (dragging violently) men and 
women, committed them to prison." And when 
the Lord bade Ananias go and baptize Saul, the 
good man was in doubt whether the conversion 
of such a man was possible, for he exclaimed in 
amazement, " Lord, I have heard by many of this 
man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints 
at Jerusalem." Saul was not acting insincerely. 
He was as sincere in his belief that Jesus was 
an impostor as he was after his conversion that 
Jesus was the Messiah. He fully believed him- 
self to be right and that he was doing God's will. 
He "was zealous toward God," and said, "I have 
lived in all good conscience before God until this 
day." He was the great man of the Jewish Church 
and nation, and his magnificent gifts as a scholar, 
a thinker and leader w T ere rapidly acquiring for 
him the highest worldly honors. 

Besides these considerations, he had in the most 
public manner committed himself in his opposi- 
tion to the religion and saints of Jesus. He had 
assailed both in the most positive modes. Weak 
minds easily change their opinions and courses of 
action, but nothing is more displeasing to a high- 

13* 



150 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

ly-endowed mind than the suspicion of inconsist- 
ency or vacillation. It was not surprising that 
the artful and low-minded Simon Magus should 
renounce his impostures and receive baptism as a 
professed convert to Christianity. But nothing 
less than the power of God could overcome the 
profound convictions and pride of position with 
which such a one as Saul was guarded as in a 
moral Gibraltar. 

No worldly and selfish motive can account for 
the conversion of this man and his subsequent 
life, since all the motives of his character resist- 
ed any change. He sacrificed cherished convic- 
tions and associations, honors and rewards, and 
took to himself indescribable persecutions, sorrows 
and hardships. 

And what was the noble aim of his soul lead- 
ing him to count all things but loss ? It was to 
love, serve and win Christ. In a most remark- 
able manner he describes the mainspring which 
moved the machinery of his life : " Whether we 

be beside ourselves it is to God The love of 

Christ constraineth us." "For me to live is 
Christ." " Christ is all in all." 

Admit the existence of this noblest of all aims, 
to glorify God and show forth the love of Jesus, 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 151 

and the conversion and life of Paul, with all their 
attendant worldly discomforts, sacrifices and suf- 
ferings, are explained. An ignorant person might 
look at an ocean steamer sailing in the teeth of 
the tempest and the tide. He sees simply the 
great ship overcoming opposition, and yet he 
knows not what the power is that impels it. But 
to one who knows the power of steam, the move- 
ment of the ship against tide and tempest is a re- 
sult which he can appreciate as he descends into 
the hold, sees the huge furnaces and boilers, the 
cylinder and shafts by which the ship is driven 
" whithersoever the governor listeth." It is even 
so with the life of the Apostle Paul. The love 
of Jesus as its grand and impelling force will be 
a cause sufficient to account for every sacrifice he 
made and every suffering he endured. This 
cause is sufficient to account for the result, and no 
other is. 

OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS. 

From uninspired history other examples of the 
highest aim may be selected. 

At a retired country parsonage on the banks of 
the Connecticut, in the year of our Lord 1703, there 
was born a child who was destined to become one 



152 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

of the greatest of men. His mind was directed to 
religious things when he was a child, and he was 
converted whilst in college in 1720. He entered 
Yale when he was twelve years old, and grad- 
uated before he was seventeen with the highest 
honors. Even then, such was the vigor of his 
intellect that he read " Locke on the Human 
Understanding" with the keenest pleasure. En- 
dowed with marvelous reasoning faculties, his 
imagination was not less marvelous. He had the 
gift of abstraction so that he could bend all the 
forces of his mighty intellect to the solution of 
any problem in metaphysics or theology, and 
from such rugged wrestlings with the difficult he 
could go on strong wings up to the very gates of 
paradise or down to the bottomless pit of eternal 
horrors, describing each in the language of essen- 
tial poetry. In the opinion of Dr. Chalmers he 
was " the greatest of theologians, combining .... 
the profoundly intellectual with the devotedly 
spiritual and sacred, and realizing in his own per- 
son a most rare yet most beautiful harmony be- 
tween the simplicity of the Christian pastor on 
the one hand, and on the other all the strength 
and prowess of a giant in philosophy. If we 
consider his originality and force of genius im- 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 153 

pressing itself as distinctly on theology as did the 
genius of Bacon on philosophy or Newton on 
astronomy, or if we regard him as a preacher 
whose arguments, imagination and intense earnest- 
ness were irresistible, we may conclude that few 
if any greater men have been born in America." 
This meek New England divine was President 
Edwards, one of the lights of the world. 

This man subjected his extraordinary gifts to 
that noblest aim which prompted him to live so 
as to glorify God and show his love for Christ. 
When yet a very young man he u resolved never 
to do, be or suffer anything in soul or body, less 
or more, but what tends to the glory of God*" 
" Never to act as if I were any way my own, but 
entirely and altogether God's;" "Never to do 
anything but duty, and then do it willingly and 
cheerfully as unto the Lord ;" and " To live with 
all my might while I do live." 

As Stephenson sketched on paper his drafts of 
the great tubular bridge, and as the architect of 
St. Peter's sketched his splendid conception of 
that famous cathedral, so did Edwards in his 
" Resolutions" sketch his own life as he desired 
it to be. Among these seventy resolutions we 
find in those just quoted the main principles 



154 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

which were to give character and life to all the rest. 
He was resolved to live with all his might to de- 
clare the glory of God and the love of Christ. 
How far did he realize his own resolutions ? 

This idea pervaded both his meditations and 
actions. " Looking upon the sky and clouds 
there came into his mind an unspeakably sweet 
sense of the glorious majesty and grace of God. 
.... God's excellency, his wisdom, his purity and 
love seemed to appear in everything." Whilst in 
New York he had such views of holiness as were 
wonderful. " It appeared to me to be of a sweet, 
pleasant, charming, serene, calm nature, which 
brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peace- 
fulness and ravishment to the soul." "He had 
the greatest delight in the Holy Scriptures." 
" His soul seemed like such a little white flower 
as we see in the spring of the year, low and hum- 
ble on the ground, opening its bosom to receive 
the pleasant beams of the sun's glory, rejoicing as 
it were in a calm rapture, diffusing around a sweet 
fragrancy, standing peacefully and lovingly in the 
midst of other flowers round about, all in like 
manner opening their bosoms to drink in the 
light of the sun." At one time he spake of the 
wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and 



THE NOBLEST AIM. 155 

love of Christ, as of his desire to " be full of 
Christ alone, to love him with a pure and holy 
love." " This constant solemn converse with 
God made his face to shine before others." 

If we follow this man from his study to the 
pulpit, and from his meditations to his life, we 
find him living with all his might to glorify God 
and love Christ. His sermons, his words, his ac- 
tions, were all full of this glorious upward aim. 
In his seclusion the love of Christ was, like fire 
on the altar, never extinguished, and in his actions 
the same love constrained him to live not unto 
himself, but unto Him who died for him and rose 
again. This was the high and noble aim which 
he constantly set before him. 

Such w r as the elder Edwards, one of the great- 
est of uninspired men and one of the holiest of 
those who " have obtained a good report through 
faith." 

It would be an eas\ tasjt to fill many pages 
with examples quite similar and scarcely less con- 
spicuous. Such an one was David Brainerd. 
Once when among the Indians he said : " I cared 
not how or where I lived, or w T hat hardships I 
went through, so that I could but gain souls to 
Christ." "All my desire was the conversion of 



156 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

the heathen, and all my hope was in God." "All 
my desire is to glorify God." 

Richard Baxter declared his " resolution to be 
fixed to live and labor for eternity," and that 
" the ministerial work must be carried on purely 
for God and the salvation of souls, not for any 
private ends of our own." Henry Martyn un- 
folded the secret of his wonderful life when he 
said: 

" I all on earth forsake, 

Its wisdom, fame and power, 
And Him my only portion make, 
My shield and tower." 




^ 



CHAPTER XII. 




HO W SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 

ANY are ready to admit the excellence and 
beauty of the principle just illustrated, that 
to act under the controlling desire to glorify 
God and to love Christ is the noblest up- 
ward aim. They appreciate the examples of such 
good men as are named in the eleventh chapter of 
the Epistle to the Hebrews, the apostles and mar- 
tyrs, and those who in every age have been enabled 
to cast into " the deepest, fathomless part of the 
ocean . • . . that burdensome millstone about 
their neck — I mean self, showing it no mercy, 
for Christ, for his cross, for his people, count- 
ing all things but loss." 1 But the difficulty is of 
a practical nature. They are conscious that they 
are not under the control of so lofty an aim. Nay, 
they see that self is the central motive, the im- 

1 J. W.Alexander's Sac. Discourses, p. 366. 
14 157 



158 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

pelling power which shapes and controls their 
actions. And now they make an effort to cast 
out self and to enthrone the love of Christ in their 
hearts, but find themselves in a dilemma which 
may be described in the words of an apostle: 
" To will is present with me : but how to per- 
form that which is good, I find not." 1 It seems 
to them very much like one who relishes one 
kind of food, but loathes another, resolving that 
he will change his tastes so as to love what he 
loathes and to loathe what he loves; or like one 
who has been addicted to some bad habit, and 
resolves that he will not even in thought admit 
the supremacy of this habit. Such a one finds 
that it is one thing "to will" but quite another 
thing "to do" In other words, they may resolve 
to do what in fact they find themselves unable to 
do. The inability is not such as to excuse them 
as blameless, but it has two phases which illus- 
trate its power. In the first place, the uncon- 
verted, but awakened, find a strong disposition in 
their moral natures to act solely under the direc- 
tion of selfish motives. And in the second place, 
they find either no disposition, or at least a very 
feeble disposition, to enthrone the love of Christ 
iKom. vii. 18. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 159 

as the governing principle of their natures. That 
is, they find a very strong disposition to love self 
supremely, which God has forbidden, and no dis- 
position to love God and Christ supremely, as 
God has commanded. 

It has been stated as a fact that a man once fell 
into a kind of cataleptic state which was marked 
by this peculiarity, that whilst there was not a 
sign of life which his friends could discover, he 
was entirely conscious of what was taking place 
about him. He could hear what they said, and 
he knew that they were preparing to bury him. 
He desired to speak, but his tongue would not 
obey him; to move, but his limbs continued rigid; 
to show some sign that he was not dead, but his 
whole body remained as cold and immovable as 
death. His will had for the time lost all control 
of the body, and he found himself unable to do 
what he greatly desired to do. 

Many an awakened sinner has found himself 
in a somewhat similar situation. He perceives 
the right, but finds it exceedingly hard to do it. 
He sees that God commands him to love the 
Lord his God with all his heart, and he feels that 
he ought to make this love the controlling motive 
of his life and actions. He knows that now he 



160 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

does not do this, and that he is guilty of a very 
offensive and dangerous sin. He resolves to 
cease to act from selfish motives and begin to act 
from the purpose to love God. But his resolu- 
tion to do this no more brings about the desired 
result than the man's resolution to show his 
friends that he was not dead. He finds that his 
whole nature is pervaded with the most positive 
and inveterate selfishness and an utter indisposi- 
tion to adopt the love of God as the ruling mo- 
tive. If he intelligently scrutinize the workings 
of his spiritual nature, he will come to some 
knowledge of the divine saying, "The heart 
is deceitful above all things, and desperately 
wicked." 

We have a confirmation of this statement in the 
attempt of awakened men to "make themselves 
better." One has been profane, and he resolves 
to correct this evil habit. He may cease swear- 
ing, but the heart is unchanged. Another has 
been an undutiful son, a reckless member of the 
household. Now that his mind is uneasy, he de- 
termines that he will be very kind and obedient 
to his parents and exemplary to his family. And 
yet he is conscious that his reformation is only 
external, and such as it is, it is very difficult to 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 161 

maintain it. Another one has been engaged in 
some immoral business or has been dishonest in 
some lawful calling. So soon as he is awakened 
he sets about an outward reformation, and yet, 
even though he accomplish it, he is not satisfied. 
Another who is moral in his conduct, but a 
neglecter of religious privileges and duties, aims 
to pay more respect and attention to the Bible, 
the Sabbath and public worship. And yet in 
many such cases people wonder that their 
religious trouble does not cease, and that they are 
not full of happiness. 

Quite similar is the experience of awaken- 
ed sinners who have been educated in anv 
anti-Christian religion. Hundreds of Roman 
Catholics have been awakened, and they have 
asked, "What shall we do?" They acknow- 
ledge their sins and resolve on reformation. 
They ask their spiritual advisers for counsel, and 
readily undergo some mortifying penances. Some 
have made large pecuniary sacrifices, and have 
done many things to find peace with God. Yet 
their penances have not brought the desired 
peace. They have found it far easier to accom- 
plish a painful pilgrimage than to "make them a 

new heart/' to pay money and make sacrifices 
H* T 



162 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

than to exterminate selfishness and to love God 
with all the heart. 

This is a real difficulty. 

THE NEW HEART. 

There must be a great moral change, and this 
fact is declared in various ways in the Scriptures. 
" Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a 
right spirit within me." l " Make you a new 
heart and a new spirit." 2 "I will put a new 
spirit within you, and I will take the stony heart 
out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of 
flesh." 3 " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except 
a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom 
of God." 4 " If any man be in Christ, he is a 
new creature."? 

The nature of this change has been hinted at 
in the discussion of the question, " What is the 
noblest aim ?" It is a change in the governing 
purpose of the soul. The unrenewed man loves 
himself supremely, and does all that he does un- 
der the constraining influence of this self-love. 
He does not ask himself, when forming and exe- 
cuting his plans, Will this and that course of con- 

1 Ps. li. 10. 2 Ezek. x via. 31 . 3 Ezek. xi. 19. 

4 John iii. 3, 5, 7. 5 2 Cor. v. 17. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 163 

duct please God ? or, Can I by this action or this 
self-denial glorify God? "God is not in all his 
thoughts." 1 The divine command is perfectly 
plain. "The Lord our God is one Lord, and 
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine 
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
might." 2 " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or 
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 3 
When a moral being makes the love of God the 
supreme motive of all his actions, the reason for 
doing one thing and abstaining from doing 
another, then is he a friend of God and has " this 
testimony, that he pleases God." 4 The angels 
thus love God, and all holy beings are thus con- 
strained by this mighty motive. They do not 
need a neto heart, and need not ask God to create 
in them a dean heart. 

But every descendant of Adam has fallen from 
this state. " They are corrupt, they have done 
abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 
The Lord looked down from heaven to see if 
there were any that did understand and seek God. 
They are all gone aside, they are altogether be- 
come filthy. There is none that doeth good, no, 

1 Vs. x. 4. 2 Deut. vi. 4, 5. 

HCor. x. 31. *Heb. xi. 5. 



164 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

not one." 1 These words are invested with double 
authority by being quoted by the Apostle Paul to 
prove the whole world guilty before God. 2 

"What does this mean ? The young man whom 
Jesus loved had not a suspicion that he fell into 
the common condemnation pronounced on all man- 
kind in these and similar * declarations, for when 
Jesus named the requirements usually included in 
the second table of the Law, he said: "All these 
things have I kept from my youth up : what lack 
I yet?" 3 

The Scriptures declare all to be sinners who 
have corrupted their way before God. Let us 
suppose a young man whose reputation among 
men is unblemished to ask some such questions 
as these : " Do you mean to say that I do not love 
my parents and treat them with becoming respect ? 
or that I am an unkind and selfish brother? 
or that I am no respecter of the rights of my 
neighbors ? Did you ever hear me curse father 
or mother ? Did you ever see me drunk ? Did 
you ever know me to lie, cheat or steal ? If not, 
what do you mean by saying that I am an utterly 
corrupt sinner before God ?" 

How many moral young men have allowed 

1 Ps. xiv. 1, 3. 2 Kom. iii. 10-20. 3 Matt. xix. 20. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 165 

themselves thus to question the charges made 
against them in the Bible ! 

To such a one it might be answered: "You 
say you love and honor your father and mother. 
Do you do this because you honor God ? You 
say you are kind to your neighbor and honest in 
your dealings. Are you kind and honest because 
in this way you are striving to love God with all 
your heart ? You pursue certain courses in life, 
you abstain from certain other courses. Do you 
do this in order that whatsoever you do ; you may 
do all to the glory of God ?" 

And what can the young man say to these ques- 
tions but to admit that he has been impelled by 
no such motive as the love of God? — that in fact 
he has been as selfish and as regardless of God in 
his love of his parents and his honesty of life as 
another son has been in his ill treatment of his 
parents and his dishonesty of life? So far as 
regard to God as the ruling motive of life is con- 
cerned, all the unregenerate occupy a common 
level. A young man may be as moral in his life 
as the young man whom Jesus loved, and yet be 
as really destitute of the love of God as Judas or 
Herod. 

We see what the Scriptures mean by declaring 



166 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

that all mankind are sinners: they mean that 
every descendant of Adam is destitute of the love 
of God as an impelling and controlling motive of 
action, and that each one has substituted selfish- 
ness in heart for the love of God. 

Wliat, then, is the new heart, or regeneration, or 
conversion? What is it to become a Christian? 

To cast out selfishness from the heart as a 
supreme motive of action and to enthrone the 
love of God in its place — this is to have a new 
heart, to be regenerate, to become a Christian. 
How this change takes place is a mystery, but the 
fact is as plain as any other fact. " The wind 
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, 
and whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born 
of the Spirit." 1 How the wind blows is a mys- 
tery, but the fact that it does blow is as evident as 
any other fact. 

To prove that this view of the change when one 
becomes a Christian is true, we have only to ap- 
peal to the Scriptures and to those who have be- 
come Christians. Thus the apostle says of man 
in his unregenerate state: "The carnal mind is 
enmity against God; for it is not subject unto the 

1 John iii. 8, 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 167 

law of God, neither indeed can be." 1 But of him- 
self as a renewed man, one who has a "new heart/' 
he says: "I delight in the law of God after the 
inward man." 2 "The law of God" is this, "Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart/' 
but before the change the "carnal mind" rises in 
rebellion against this law. but after the change 
the renewed man delights in this law. 

In the gospel Jesus is revealed as the Son of 
God, and as entitled to equal honor with the 
Father. Before his conversion Saul was a blas- 
phemer of Jesus, and he compelled others to be 
blasphemers also. 3 But after his conversion the 
renewed Paul counted all things but loss that he 
might win Christ, and moved as steadily and 
swiftly forward as a planet in her orbit under the 
constraining love of Christ. 4 Zaccheus was re- 
puted to be "a sinner" before his conversion, and, 
from his own reference to extortion, may be sup- 
posed to have been no exception to the class of 
which he was one in respect to his selfishness. 
But after his conversion he gave the half of his 
goods to the poor, and promised fourfold restitu- 
tion in everv case in which he had " taken any- 

1 Rom. viii. 7. 2 Rora. vii. 22. 

H Tim. i. 13; Acts xxvi. 11. 4 Phil. iii. 1-14; 2 Cor. v. 14. 



168 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

thing from any man by false accusation." The 
love of Christ had succeeded the love of self as a 
motive of action. 

Ask Augustine, who was in his early life a cor- 
rupt and selfish libertine, in what consisted the 
change he professed to experience, and he will 
tell you that the love of God as the supreme mo- 
tive had cast out the love of self. Ask Luther, 
Calvin, Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, Brainerd, 
Henry Martyn, and any other Christians whose 
piety is as conspicuous as the light, for the mo- 
tive which inspired their lives before they were 
converted, and they will tell you that they were 
supremely devoted to self and regardless of God. 
But after God made them new creatures they 
could say: "The love of Christ constraineth us to 
live not unto ourselves, but unto Him who died 
for us and rose again." 

WHO MAKES THE NEW CREATURE ? 

The very terms used in the Bible point directly 
to the power which works this change. Many 
millions of men have tried to make themselves 
cease to act selfishly, and instead to act solely from 
the love of God, and they have found themselves 
as powerless to effect the change as to raise the 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 169 

dead to life. AVhat volumes of sorrowful experi- 
ence are contained in that one sentence which de- 
scribes the vain struggles of awakened sinners ! — 
" Before they would come to Christ they must 
needs try to make themselves better." Never 
has a sinner come off victor in an unaided wrestle 
with the selfishness of his own heart ; never has 
he felt that he alone could kindle on the altar of 
his selfish heart the pure flame of holy love to 
God. He has tried, but failed, and if there be 
no other help, he must perish. 

This defines the agency which effects this change. 
"The Holy Spirit of God" 1 is the only power 
named in the Bible as regenerating the sinner's 
heart. Thus our Saviour said to Nicodemus, first 
in general terms and then in more specific, " Ex- 
cept a man be born from above (again), he cannot 
see the kingdom of God;" " Except a man be born 
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into 
the kingdom of God. That which is born of the 
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit 
is spirit." 2 These declarations define and restrict 
the general statement made by the Evangelist 
John when he speaks of " them that believe on 
his name" as " born not of blood, nor of the will 

1 Eph. iv. 30. 2 John iii. 3, 5, 6. 

15 



170 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." x 
When Jesus was about to leave the world he 
promised to send them "another Comforter, that 
he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit 
of truth; .... the Holy Ghost whom the Father 
will send in my name, he shall teach you all 
things." 2 And when the day of Pentecost was 
fully come the disciples " were all filled with the 
Holy Ghost." The words of Peter addressed to 
the unconverted multitudes which thronged about 
him were made efficient by this power, so that 
thousands in agony cried out, "Men and brethren, 
what shall we do?" 3 

If we examine the history of those marvelous 
changes which attended the preaching of the 
apostles and Christians 4 as recorded by Luke, 
and compare them with the doctrinal statements 
of the Apostle Paul, we cannot fail to trace them 
to the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. Thus 
the apostle bids his brethren not to "grieve the 
Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto 
the day of redemption." 5 He also says of them 
in another connection, "Ye were sealed with that 
Holy Spirit of promise." 6 The apostle describes 

1 John i. 12, 13. 2 John xiv. 16, 26. 3 Acts ii., passim, 

* Acts viii. 4. 5 Eph. iv. 30, 6 Eph. i. 13. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 171 

the agency which converted certain sinners into 
Christian believers by comparing them to "an 
epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not 
with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; 
not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the 
heart." 1 He points to the same power in de- 
claring that we are not " sufficient of ourselves to 
think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency 
is of God." 2 The agency of the Holy Spirit in the 
conversion and sanctification of sinners is made 
very prominent in the eighth chapter of Romans, 
and elsewhere in the apostle's letters. " For as 
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are 
the sons of God." 3 "God hath from the begin- 
ning chosen you to salvation through sanctifica- 
tion of the Spirit and belief of the truth." 4 "Xot 
by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the 
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost," 5 

The only efficient potcer to regeiierate the wicked 
heart, by casting out selfishness and enthroning 
the love of God as its constraining motive, is the 
third person of the triune Godhead, called in the 

1 2 Cor. iii. 3. 2 2 Cor. iii. 5. 3 Kom. viii. 14. 

* 2 These, ii. 13, 5 Titus iii. 5. 



172 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

Scriptures "the Holy Ghost/' the "Comforter," 1 
"the Spirit of God," 2 "the Spirit of the living 
God," 3 "the Holy Spirit of God," 4 "the Spirit," 5 
and "the Holy Spirit," 6 

The particular interest of this statement may 
be thus illustrated. In proportion to the desir- 
ableness of an object to be attained, and the great- 
ness of the difficulties which prevent our attain- 
ment of that object, is our satisfaction in finding 
assistance equal to our wants. Thus a young 
man fell into a deep well, and was unable to get 
out. His cries fortunately brought men to his 
rescue. But another young man was assisting to 
dig a well. Suddenly he found that the quick- 
sands had fastened his feet, and his situation was 
rendered the more horrible by the caving of the 
earth about him. His companions were frightened 
too much to do anything, and they were afraid to 
venture down into so dangerous a place. Grad- 
ually the earth closed him up in its relentless 
embrace, while Jiis companions stood horror- 
stricken at a doom which they had no power to 
avert. What joy would have been brought to the 
endangered youth and his friends had some bold, 

1 John xiv. 26. 2 Eom. viii. 9. 3 2 Cor. iii. 3. 

* Ephes. iv. 30. 5 Gal. v. 18. 6 1 Thess. iv. 8. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 173 

strong, experienced man appeared at the critical 
moment to point out a plan and to execute it for 
his deliverance ! The extremity of the danger 
would have added to the desirableness of a de- 
liverer. 

Some years ago a peculiarly insidious and dan- 
gerous disease began its ravages in a certain insti- 
tution. When the physician was called, he pro- 
nounced it a disease whose peculiar type was not 
described in the medical authorities, and one 
which he had never seen before. Other physi- 
cians were called, who came to the same conclu- 
sion. Meanwhile, one of the young men, a very 
gifted student, had died. Another was in the 
most critical condition. A person in the neigh- 
borhood was evidently dying, while a score of 
students were showing symptoms of the disease. 
It was a time of alarm, and this alarm was in- 
creased by the fact that the physicians were evi- 
dently at their wits' end. 

In the midst of this panic a physician who was 
almost an entire stranger to the profession in the 
region, having recently come there, introduced 
himself to the doctor in charge, with the request 
to be allowed to visit these patients with him the 
next day. The request was granted, and after a 

15* 



174 THE WAY LOST AKD FOUND. 

very careful examination of the cases the stranger 
said : " Last winter I had many cases very similar 
to these, and some of them died, but after various 
experiments I adopted a particular mode of treat- 
ment (which he described), and after that every 
patient recovered." 

The information seemed so sensible, and it was 
imparted with so much modesty and generosity, 
that he was requested to aid the regular physician 
in the management of the cases. It was not a 
week before those who were sick showed signs of 
recovery, and the gloom which overhung the sem- 
inary was passing away. The reason was two- 
fold : the danger was great, and the new physi- 
cian proved himself equal to" the task of dealing 
with it. 

We have examined that moral disease which is 
as widely prevalent as the human family. As be- 
fore the flood, so since in every age, " God saw that 
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and 
that every imagination of the thoughts of his 
heart was only evil continually." 1 We have 
traced this disease back to its starting-point. The 
love of God as the supreme motive of thought, 
action and life is wanting in "the carnal mind," 2 
1 Gen. vi. 5. 2 Rom. viii. 7 ; Gal. v. 17. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 175 

and in place of this we find a supreme selfishness 
which has usurped the place of God. This sel- 
fishness leads each one to live to himself regard- 
less of God ; and instead of asking, " How can I 
please and glorify God ?" the great and real ques- 
tion is, "How can I please myself?" This is 
enmity to God, and is most displeasing to him, 
and God will render unto them who are guilty of 
it " indignation and wrath, tribulation and an- 
guish." 1 It is a condition of heart "desperately 
wicked," 2 and such a fountain of bitterness can- 
not send forth at the same place "sweet water and 
bitter, .... salt water and fresh." 3 Here is the 
reason which justifies God in saying of the whole 
human family, "There is none that doeth good, 
no, not one." 4 

We have seen that this is a most deep-rooted 
state of heart — a disease which has baffled the skill 
and power of all human physicians. But it is not 
only very hard to cure, but it is certain to be at- 
tended with the most fatal consequences if it be 
not cured. The Lord Jesus has made an atone- 
ment for our sins, and has made our salvation 
possible. " It is a faithful saying, and worthy 

iKom.ii. 8,9. 2 Jer. xvii.9. 

3 James iii. 11, 12. 4 Ps. xiv. 3. 



176 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the 
world to save sinners." 1 Yet even this glorious 
provision for our salvation would be in vain if 
the Holy Spirit did not take the things of Christ 
and show them to sinners/ " for we are his work- 
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good 
works." 3 It matters not who sows the seed, it is 
God who giveth the increase/ and he does this by 
pouring out his Spirit upon all flesh, 5 but es- 
pecially upon "them who shall be heirs of salva- 
tion." 6 

u Can aught beneath a power divine 

The stubborn will subdue? 
'Tis thine, eternal Spirit, thine, 

To form the heart anew. 
•£ * * * # 

" Oh change these wretched hearts of ours, 
And give them life divine ; 
Then shall our passions and our powers, 
Almighty God, be thine !" 

HUMAN AGENCIES. 

It has been proved that the Holy Spirit is the 
only power that creates the sinner's heart anew. 
Some thoughtful mind may inquire, Wlxat then 

1 1 Tim. i. 15. 2 John xvi. 15. 3 Eph. ii. 10. 

* 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7. 5 Joel ii. 28. 6 Heb. i. 14. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 177 

has the sinner to do but sit still and see the salva- 
tion of God? 

The Apostle Paul has presented this subject 
under the figure of sowing seed. " I have plant- 
ed, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 
So then neither is he that planteth anything, 
neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the 
increase." 1 Take a grain of wheat and carefully 
examine it. In it is the germ which is to grow 
and bear the desired grain. In effecting this 
change from the seed to the harvest many agen- 
cies are necessarv. There is the soil. God made 
that. There is the quality in the soil which may 
administer to the development and maturity of 
the grain. God made that. There are the early 
and the latter rains, and the light and heat of the 
sun, without which the change of the seed into 
the harvest cannot take place. God made these 
also. Besides these there is the regulation of the 
forces of nature. If the frost comes when the 
wheat is in blossom, or if the rain falls in too 
great abundance, or if it come not at all, or if the 
sun glare too fiercely on the unmoistened soil, or 
if it be enveloped too constantly in mists and 
fogs — the hopes of harvest must be disappointed, 

1 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7. 
M 



178 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

The regulation of the seasons is a work which 
God alone can manage. From the agencies which 
are necessary to the development of seed-wheat 
into a harvest, subtract those which literally be- 
long to God alone, and how little is left ! Of the 
growth and maturity of all those plants and ani- 
mals on which we live, God says to us, " Without 
me ye can do nothing." 1 

And yet, lest some might infer that he was 
teaching that God must do everything and man 
nothing, the apostle adds : " Now he that plant- 
eth and he that watereth are one, and every man 
shall receive his OWN reward according to his 
own labor." 2 As if the apostle had said: 
"As to the efficient power which converts the 
seed into the harvest, whether in the natural or 
moral world, it belongs to God alone. He alone 
gives the increase. But whilst this is true, God 
has so arranged his plans as to bless human effort 
so that every man shall receive his own reward 
according to his own labor." 

If we would have a harvest, we must prepare 

the ground and sow the seed. This will not 

cause the seed to grow, and yet without this God 

will not cause it to grow. We must protect the 

1 John xv. 5. 2 1 Cor. iii. 8. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 179 

field, and in due time gather the ripened grain. 
These acts of ours will not supplant the divine 
efficiency, and yet without these acts God will not 
give us overflowing granaries. In a few excep- 
tional cases God as a sovereign has suspended this 
rule for a time, as when the ravens fed Elijah, 1 
and when the widow's barrel of meal and cruse 
of oil did not waste, 2 and when the two miracles 
of Jesus were wrought, multiplying a very 
little food into an abundance, in the one case for 
four thousand people, and in the other for five 
thousand. 3 

This great principle prevails in the moral 
world. "Be not deceived : God is not mocked, 
for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also 
reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the 
flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the 
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." 4 
"Work out your own salvation with fear and 
trembling, for it is God which worketh in you 
both to will and to do of his good pleasure." 5 It 
is objected that this latter exhortation is address- 
ed to persons already regenerate. This is true, 

1 1 Kings xvii. 6. 2 1 Kings xvii. 14. 

3 Mark vi. 44 ; Matt. xv. 38. 4 Gal. vi. 7, 8. 

*Phil. ii. 12,13. 



180 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

but can it be more necessary for such a one to 
work out his own salvation than for one who is 
altogether in his sins ? 

"what must i DO?" 

There was a certain young man whose deport- 
ment was unexceptionable, whose integrity was 
above suspicion, and whose treatment of religion 
was deferential. Whatever may have been his 
private habits in regard to the reading of the Bible 
and prayer, he was a punctual attendant on Sab- 
bath services and an attentive hearer of the gos- 
pel. Whilst he was very attentive to preaching, 
he rarely gave any signs of emotion as though he 
felt himself to be a sinner against God, in danger 
of eternal perdition. His pastor, having occasion 
to see him at his place of business, ventured to 
inquire whether he felt any concern about his 
future welfare. Without hesitation or impatience 
he replied that he had no anxiety, and that his 
mind was directed but little to the subject. 

" You admit the necessity and importance of a 
change of heart in order to be saved, do you not ?" 
asked his pastor. 

" Certainly I do." 

"And also that you have sinned greatly against 




What Must I Do? 



Page 180. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 181 

God in your heart, your words, your thoughts, 
your actions, and that you need God's forgive- 
ness ?" 

" Oh yes, sir, certainly. I admit this." 

"And that God can only forgive sin on account 
of the atonement which the Lord Jesus Christ 
hath made, and that in order to our receiving the 
benefits of this atonement we must believe in 
Christ?" 

" I admit all this," he calmly and frankly re- 
plied. 

" Why, then, do you not confess your sins to 
God, and ask him to forgive you for the sake of 
Christ?" 

"Because I have no feeling which is deeper 
than a mere intellectual admission. I wish I did 
feel, but the fact is I do not." 

" Suppose one of your customers who owes you 
should admit the justice of the claim and yet 
plead that he had no feeling about it. Would 
you think his plea sound?" 

"No, of course not. He ought to pay the 
debt," 

" Feeling or no feeling ?" 

" Of course he ought, for feeling has nothing to 
do with the matter." 

16 



182 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

"Your reasoning is just; why not apply it to the 
obligations you admit you owe to God? Why 
not set about this work, not because you feel like 
doing it, but because it is right ?" 

The young man was disturbed by those ques- 
tions, but after a moment be said: "If you will 
tell me what to do, I will do it to the best of my 
ability !" 

" There is an inquiry-meeting at my house to- 
night. Come, and by the coming show that you 
are an inquirer after the way of salvation. Will 
you ?" asked his pastor. 

"Yes* 

He was faithful to his promise. He engaged 
in it as something to be accomplished. He read 
the Bible, he asked God for light, and he inquired 
of Christian people what he must do. It was not 
long before he had enough feeling about himself 
as a helpless, ruined and guilty sinner, and he 
was led to Christ apparently a true penitent. 
His inquiry was now for the will of God. " Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do ?" He would no 
longer live to himself, but unto Christ, who died 
for him. A new principle and motive of action 
had been implanted in his soul. Selfishness had 
given way to the love of God. He was a new 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN ? 183 

creature in Christ ; old things had passed away, 
behold, all things had become new. 

Did he make himself a new creature? Had he 
been dead, he could as easily have raised himself 
to life. The Holy Spirit quickened him into life. 
And yet my young friend did a work which was 
necessary not as an efficient cause, but as a con- 
dition of salvation ; he set himself earnestly to 
working out his salvation, inquiring after help, 
and obeying as fast as the light was imparted. 
God in spiritual as well as in less important 
matters " helps the man who helps himself ;" 
in one who works out his own salvation with 
fear and trembling God worketh to do his own 
pleasure. 

God gave my friend practical wisdom in the 
greatest of all concerns, seeking his salvation, and 
God gave him what he sought. Let us pray unto 
him to give us all this wisdom. 

SOME SUGGESTIONS. 

But you admit that the Holy Spirit of God is 
the author of this great change, and also that 
while God works in us to will and to do of his 
good pleasure, we must work out our own salva- 
tion with fear and trembling. Yet you ask, 



184 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

"What must I do?" There are some suggestions 
which are worthy of a place here. 

1. Get clear views of your real character and dan- 
ger. Some people seem to think that God will 
miraculously impart to sinners a knowledge of cer- 
tain facts already revealed and within their reach. 
Let me name a few as examples. God has told 
us that every descendant of Adam is a sinner; that 
in order to be saved a sinner must become a new 
creature in the new birth ; that his heart must be 
so changed as to be constrained by the love of 
Christ, and not the love of self: that he must as a 
consequence and proof of this change live a holy 
life, bringing forth good works meet for repent- 
ance; and that if such a change be not wrought in 
the sinner's heart, he must perish for ever. 

Here are certain facts made known for the ex- 
press purpose of convincing sinners that they are 
the very persons whom Jesus came to call to 
repentance, the very ones who are sick and whom 
Jesus came to heal. 

These facts are written with sunbeams in the 
Bible, which lies unopened and unread in very 
many dwellings. When Washington was cross- 
ing the Delaware, it is said that some Tory on 
the New Jersey side of the river sent a letter to 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN ? 185 

Colonel Rahl, the commander of the Hessians at 
Trenton, stating to him the fact. He was play- 
ing cards at the time, and thrust the letter unread 
into his pocket. It did him no more good than 
a piece of blank paper, simply because he neglected 
to read it. And would any one hint that the 
writer of that letter ought to have gone to Trenton 
to repeat information already in possession of the 
man ? And will God by miracle reveal to sin- 
ners those great facts which are already taught 
them in his word? 

Although elsewhere this thought has been 
stated, let me here repeat it, that the sinner who 
would be saved must diligently study God's word 
in order to get clear views of his real character 
and danger. Those who have narrowly watched 
religious awakenings have noticed that some per- 
sons are excited greatly and easily, but their feel- 
ings subside quickly, "because they had no deep- 
ness of earth." The shallowness and evanescence 
of their feelings might be traced to their igno- 
rance and neglect of God's word. In many cases 
they are unacquainted with the most obvious 
facts and doctrines of that Book, and do nothing 
to repair the lack. They are usually inattentive 
hearers of preaching, take no pleasure in conver- 

16* 



186 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

sation with intelligent Christians, and none in 
the Sabbath-school and Bible-class instruction. 
The religious excitement of such is often hot as 
fires on the prairies, and as short lived. There 
is very little reliance to be placed in the exercises 
of a professed inquirer or convert who is ignorant 
of God's word, and who neglects to overcome that 
want by searching the Scriptures. 

In scores of instances I have seen large num- 
bers assembled to inquire what they must do. At 
first there would be very little marked difference 
in their exercises. All manifested more or less 
concern. In a short time some would profess 
conversion, and this would be a fact separating 
the inquirers into two classes. A part of those 
not converted invariably lost their feeling of 
anxiety. A careful inquiry into the habits of 
these short-lived inquirers showed that nine out 
of ten of them were habitual neglecters of the 
Bible. Of those who professed conversion, after 
a time some either went back or gave little evi- 
dence that they had experienced a change of 
heart. Here again the same fatal neglect may be 
found. The most of these who went back did 
not search the Scriptures. To such an extent 
is this true that I have no confidence in the 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 187 

soundness of an alleged conversion which may 
not be traced back to a knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures, or which is not fed and invigorated by com- 
munion with God in his Word. 

The Bible teaches the sinner his real character 
by furnishing him a standard of judgment with 
which to compare his life and motives, and he 
never will have a clear knowledge of his own 
character and danger unless he either directly or 
indirectly derives it from this infallible source. To 
show how important this knowledge is to an in- 
quirer after salvation let me use an illustration. 
A young man, a member of the Theological Sem- 
inary at Princeton, was unwell. There were 
symptoms of consumption, but he resolutely re- 
fused to look at them. He went to a milder cli- 
mate, but found no permanent relief. His disease 
he persistently called a throat disease and not a 
disease of the lungs. At last, greatly prostrated, he 
called a physician of great skill, who told him 
that his lungs were diseased beyond all hope of 
relief, and that death was at the door. Then he 
was aroused and alarmed, and he hastened home 
to die, but not until he had exhausted the skill 
of the most skillful answering this question, 
u Cannot something be done to save my life?" The 



188 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

point is this : he showed no anxiety about a cure 
until he saw clearly that he was fatally sick. Had 
there been a physician able to cure him, he would 
not have gone to him for help so long as he did 
not believe that he needed help. 

Let every inquirer study the Scriptures and his 
own heart to learn that this is his own character, 
" The heart is deceitful above all things and des- 
perately wicked," and that this is his own per- 
sonal danger, " The wicked shall be turned into 
hell." When these facts flame upon him he will 
look for help where help is to be obtained. 

2. Gain clear conceptions as to what help you 
need. This must be determined by considering 
the circumstances and the word of God. If I 
am embarrassed with debt, the help I need will 
be of a pecuniary nature ; hence it would be folly 
for me in such a case to appeal for help to a skill- 
ful physician who has little of "this world's 
goods." 

If I am sick, the help I need is of a healing 
nature ; hence it would be folly for me to appeal 
to some wealthy friend who has no medical skill. 
The services of the good physician would then be 
in place. 

If I am threatened with personal violence by 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN? 189 

some strong enemy, the help I need is not of a 
pecuniary or medical nature, but of a muscular 
sort that will shield me from my antagonist. 

Your question, my inquiring friend, is this : 
"What must I do to be saved ?" What is the 
nature of this salvation ? You are condemned as 
a trangressor of the Law, hence you need help 
which shall remove this condemnation from your 
guilty soul. "How should man be just with 
God ? If he will contend with him, he cannot 
answer him one of a thousand." This fact is as- 
serted in various ways. Xow our transgressions are 
represented as an immense debt which we cannot 
pay, and yet if we do not pay it we must be shut 
up in prison never to come out. 1 Then we need 
help to meet this fearful debt 

Xow it is stated under the form of a sentence 
of death by the court. The sinner is condemned 
already: 2 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." 3 
The help you need, my friend, is of a kind that 
will take off this sentence and bring you forgive- 
ness of sin. 

Call it debt or condemnation for capital crime, 
you need assistance of a kind to meet your wants. 

You have a very deceitful and desperately wicked 

1 Matt, xyiii. 23-35. 2 John iii. 18. 3 Ezek. xviii. 20. 



190 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

heart. Many people think this a statement not 
warranted by facts. Saul of Tarsus once thought 
very well of himself until the real wickedness of 
his heart was shown to him. Then he owned 
himself the chief of sinners. 

This is a vital point, and any unsoundness here 
may be fatal; and here, it is to be feared, is the be- 
ginning of much unsatisfactory Christian experi- 
ence. The insight of many awakened persons 
into their own hearts is so superficial that they 
hardly realize how wicked they are. They seem 
now to meditate profoundly on the tremendous 
words with which God describes the natural heart 
and sin— now to gaze long and intently into 
the depths of their own depraved hearts, until, 
alarmed and shocked, they are forced to cry out 
in despair, as did the apostle, "O wretched 
man that I am ! Who shall deliver me from the 
body of this death ?" 

When you get a clear view of your own wicked 
heart, you will feel that you not only need for- 
giveness, but a new creation. " Ye must be born 
again/' 

Besides, your thoughts have worn deep chan- 
nels in the wrong direction; you need help 
to force them into right channels. Your affec- 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN ? 191 

tions have been like the branches of a vine 
fallen to the earth and clinging to unworthy ob- 
jects: you need help to raise them up to God, the 
only right Object of your supreme love. Your 
bodily powers have been the servants of sin, and 
you need help to subject them to God, a willing 
and living sacrifice. 

And as you thus bring your thoughts to bear 
on your character and danger as a condemned 
sinner whose heart is desperately wicked, you will 
see that you need just such help as Jesus can give 
you, "for there is no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus," 1 and such help as the 
Holy Spirit of God brings, for it is written that 
the sinner is saved "by the washing of regenera- 
tion and renewing of the Holy Ghost." 2 

In other words, these two suggestions simply 
bid you consider what you want and ivho is to 
supply it. You want to be saved, and that great 
salvation can only be brought you by the Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Saviour, and the Holy Spirit the 
Sanctifier. 

3. Pray for the help you need, and cast yourself 
on the divine mercy through Christ alone. It is a 
very strange fact that there are persons who are 
l Kom. viii. 1. 2 Tit. iii. 5. 



192 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

unwilling and even ashamed to pray in secret. 
If poor, they will ask for help of their friends; 
if sick, they will ask help of the physician; if in 
distress, they will ask for help of those who are 
able to give it ; but distressed with the fear of 
hell, a sense of guilt and condemnation, needing 
to be saved, and even wishing it, they will 
not ask for help of God, who only is able to 
help them. Many a proud heart revolts against 
bowing the suppliant knee to God, and especially 
to ask God to bestow on them undeserved mercy. 
But the inquirer must pray for help. You 
have sinned against God, and you must ask God 
to forgive you for Christ's sake. You owe a 
great debt, and you must ask Christ to pay it for 
you. You lie under the sentence of death, and 
you must ask Christ to redeem you from the 
curse of the Law by taking your place. 1 You are 
dead in trespasses and sins 2 — that is, you are averse 
to holiness, you love sin, and to become a holy 
man transcends your power — and therefore you 
must pray the Holy Spirit to help your infirmi- 
ties. You are wholly possessed with a wicked 
heart, and therefore you must pray, " Create in me 
a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit 
1 Gal. iii. 13 ; 2 Cor. v. 21. 2 Eph. ii. 1 ; Col. ii. 13. 



HOW SHALL I BECOME A CHRISTIAN ? 193 

within me." You are encompassed with difficul- 
ties, you are sinking under your sins, you are in 
the most extreme peril, and you must cry to your 
Saviour, as Peter did when he was beginning to 
sink in the waves, " Lord, save me." 

You must pray, for Jesus says, "Ask, and it 
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, 
and it shall be opened unto you. For every one 
thatasketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; 
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." 1 

But you object that "the sacrifice of the wicked 
is an abomination to the Lord." 2 And so it is; 
and did you feel what you say, you would not 
cavil at this gracious privilege of prayer, nor 
would you wait until you cease being wicked be- 
fore you pray, but you would do as the leper did 
when he knelt at the feet of Jesus, saying, "Lord, 
if thou wilt thou canst make me clean," and as 
the publican who said, " God be merciful to me a 
sinner." 

You must ask very earnestly for the needed 
help. 

And you must do more. You must renounce 

all your own good works, and cast yourself on the 

mercy of God in Christ. The farmer must pray 

1 Luke ii. 9, 10. 2 Prov, xv. 8. 

17 • N 



194 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

for a blessing, but he must himself sow the seed 
which is to be blessed. The man with the with- 
ered hand must stretch it forth when commanded 
to do so. So you who are asking God to help 
you must also help yourself. You must renounce 
all trust in your own good works, and cease to go 
about to establish your own righteousness, which 
is of the Law. 1 You must cast yourself as a poor, 
ruined and helpless sinner on Christ, who "is the 
end of the law for righteousness to every one that 
believeth." 2 You must "confess with thy mouth 
the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that 
God hath raised him from the dead" — in a word, 
you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in 
order to be saved. 

You must pray for help, and yet you must help 
yourself with all your might, striving to enter in 
at the strait gate, and to work out your own 
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God 
who worketh in you to will and to do of his 
good pleasure. 3 

^ora. ix. 3. 2 Kora. x 4. 

8 Luke xiii. 24; Phil. ii. 12, 13. 



CHAPTER XIII. 




SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 

TIT," you say, " if this change is one of 
such importance and necessity, it is very 
desirable to guard against mistakes. How 
can I know that this change has taken place 
in me ?" 

To see how vital a question this is we have 
only to refer to a class of facts which have trans- 
pired in every church. Persons there are who 
have for a time exhibited unusual religious zeal. 
They stood foremost in the ranks of pious people, 
and were ready to make any sacrifices for Christ. 
Very commonly such were not a little self-com- 
placent in regard to w T hat they esteemed their own 
superior piety, and even censorious in regard to 
their less zealous brethren. And yet how many 
such have gone back to "the beggarly elements 
of the world" and altogether ceased following 
Christ ! They forsook the prayer-meeting, and 

195 



196 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

even on the Sabbath rarely attended worship. It 
is charitable to say that such were mistaken in 
supposing themselves the subjects of this change 
of heart. There probably never was a circle of 
professed converts which did not have some of 
this class, nor a church which did not number 
some such members. Alas ! of how many a pro- 
fessed convert it might be said, " He feedeth on 
ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside 
that he cannot deliver his soul nor say, Is there 
not a lie in my right hand ?" 

To aid you in avoiding such a mistake some 
signs may be named which show that " the heart 
has been changed/' that it has been " born again. " 

These evidences may be arranged in two 
classes, internal and external. 

INTERNAL EVIDENCES OF THE NEW BIRTH. 

These are to be sought for in the convert's own 
spirit, and can only be inspected by himself and 
God. 

DELIGHT IN GOD'S CHARACTER. 

The truly regenerate soul is more or less clearly 
conscious of delight in God's character. This is a 
fundamental evidence, since the very essence of 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 197 

that depravity from which the sinner is converted 
is " enmity against God." Whenever the real 
feelings of the natural heart are developed, they 
are full of dislike of God's holy character,_sov- 
ereignty, law and deeds. H Therefore they say 
unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the 
knowledge of thy ways." 1 "But his citizens 
hated him and sent a message after him, saying, 
We will not have this man to reign over us." 2 

The light is good and pleasant to one whose 
eye is sound, but painful to the diseased eye. All 
holy beings love God because he is infinitely 
lovely, and as the soul is recovered from sin it 
also has this feeling toward God. The settled 
feeling of the truly " born again" is not enmity, 
but delight in God. " Whom have I in heaven," 
it cries, " but thee ? And there is none upon the 
earth that I desire besides, or in comparison with 
thee." 3 When the apostle declares that such a 
one has " peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ," he not merely means that God has re- 
moved the sentence of condemnation from the 
sinner, but that the sinner is " at one" with God in 
the sense that he admires and loves God. He 
looks at God as his Father in heaven. 

1 Job xxi. 14. 2 Luke xix. 14. 3 Ps. lxxiii. 25. 
17* 



198 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

There may be a clearer consciousness of this 
delight in God at one time than at another, but it 
must be in the soul of one to be born again. It is 
not a selfish feeling, as if he were to say, " How 
happy I feel !" or " How good I am !" but " How 
lovely, how excellent, how holy, is God, whom I 
trust I now love !" 

This is the feeling, the settled conviction of 
every converted soul, and he beholds God in his 
Word, his works, his providence and his gospel. 
He who professes conversion will be able to ex- 
amine his own heart by this test: "Do I love 
God ?" That conversion is spurious which is not 
marked by this necessary sign. 

DESIRE TO DO GOD'S WILL. 

But he will not only feel delight in God's cha- 
racter, he will desire to fulfill GooVs will. 

Religion is not a mere ecstasy of feeling like 
that which one has as he sees the sun rise in the 
summer's morning, his beams shining through 
the deep green foliage and refracted into surpass- 
ing beauty through millions of dewdrops. One 
then exclaims, " How glorious the king of day ! 
How unspeakably beautiful the morning !" This 
delight in the sun and the morning may be an 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE, 199 

evanescent emotion bearing no fruit. It is not so 
with the Christian's delight in God. It prompts 
him to desire to be a dutiful child. See that son 
who professes to admire and love his father. If 
he be sincere, he cannot sit still and gaze and 
admire, but he asks himself, " What can I do to 
show my love for my father ?" 

This rule is a very plain and discriminating 
one, which you may apply to your own alleged 
conversion. Turn your thoughts in upon your 
heart with this question : " Do I desire to do the 
will of God ?" The question is not, Do you do 
that will perfectly f but, Do you desire to do it ? 
That will of God often clashes with human incli- 
nation, and bids us do the things we would not 
and leave undone the things we would. The 
human heart has one rule, and God gives another 
which is very different, and we may be assured 
that when the love of God has uprooted the 
natural selfishness of the heart, love for God 
will beget the desire to do the will of God. 

Take a case. A young man, having completed 
his studies at college, chooses to enter himself as 
a clerk in a bank. His diligence, integrity and 
capacity for business soon win for him promotion, 
until it is evident that it is "only a question of 



200 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

time" about his securing the highest position in 
that kind of business. All this while the love of 
self inspires him. God is not in all his thoughts. 
He is as really selfish as is the highway robber. 
But his mind was directed to this fact, and he saw 
that he was a selfish, ungodly man. He confessed his 
sin, and believed that he was forgiven. He trust- 
ed in Jesus Christ, and hoped he had been born 
again. What was one sign that he was not mis- 
taken ? This : he was not afraid to take his 
chosen, honorable and prided business before 
God, honestly to ask the question, "Lord, what 
wilt thou have me to do ?" He meant by this 
question just this : " Lord, if it is thy will that I 
continue in this business, I will continue in it not 
to promote my interests, but to glorify thee. And 
if it is thy will that I leave this business in order 
to serve thee in another calling, I desire to do 
that." 

This is not a mere supposition. In its essential 
features it is a fact, and this convert left his lucra- 
tive employment to preach the gospel. By this 
it is not meant to utter the folly that every con- 
verted banker's clerk or lawyer or physician 
ought to leave that calling to preach the gospel. 
By no means. The Lord has need of good men 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 201 

in every honorable calling, but the young convert 
will not fail to notice the settling of the question 
of a calling in life, not by a desire to please him- 
self, but to do the will of God. After a similar 
examination another man will as sincerely serve 
God as a banker. 

This desire to fulfill the will of God is as essen- 
tial to real piety as blood is to the living body. 

EMPLOYMENTS APPROVED BY GOD. 

The true Christian will aim after employments 
and enjoyments which God approves. Some years 
ago a young man, the son of an excellent minis- 
ter in Connecticut, was settling himself in a 
Western town as a physician. He was a man of 
more than common gifts and force, and was well 
educated in his profession. His talents and 
energy soon made a favorable impression on the 
community, and he was likely to acquire a remu- 
nerative practice. In 1840 he "was converted 
soundly," and gave one proof of the fact by sub- 
jecting his favorite profession to this severe test, 
" Is this the employment God wishes me to fol- 
low ?" He prayed over the matter with no little 
trouble of spirit, and weighed the claims of duty. 
It seemed to him that God called him to preach 



202 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

Christ, but his wife and his friends thought other- 
wise. They said, " You are already successfully 
practicing medicine. A pious physician has many 
opportunities for usefulness. Your family need 
your support, and if you change your profession, 
for several years they must suffer. You ought to 
imitate the apostle who had learned in whatever 
state he was therewith to be content." 

But this young man replied to all this excellent 
reasoning by the one answer: "It seems to me 
that God wishes me to make the change, and if 
so, I desire to do God's will at whatever sacri- 
fice." 

With great decision he began the change, and 
pursued his preparatory theological studies under 
very trying circumstances, but his faith and cheer- 
fulness did not fail. He became the pastor of a 
Presbyterian church in Ohio, and was very suc- 
cessful in winning souls to Christ. He died in 
the prime of his manhood, and his weeping people 
buried him by the threshold of their new sanc- 
tuary. The monument which meets your eye as 
you enter the church is a mute witness to the 
assertion that one who is really converted will 
desire to choose the employment which pleases 
God. 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 203 

Here is another fact. More than thirty years 
ago a certain country community was excited by 
the temperance reformation recently begun. The 
"Six Sermons on Intemperance," by Dr. Beecher, 
were read in the church on successive Sabbath 
afternoons. More than a hundred pledged them- 
selves not to drink, or sell or furnish ardent 
spirits. Among these were several notorious 
drunkards. It was what is called "a great apple 
year" The trees were loaded with apples, and 
thousands of bushels were taken to the distillery 
to be manufactured into rum on shares. One man, 
a professor of religion, owned extensive orchards, 
and had in his cellar a large amount of rum. 
His conscience was disturbed by the new light 
w T hich revealed to him the evils of intemperance 
as he had never seen them before. The question 
was, "What is my duty? Ought I to join my- 
self to this movement ? But if I do, what about 
this rum I now have on hand, and these ex- 
tensive orchards bearing fruit only fit for distill- 
ing purposes ?" 

If one might judge from his words and deeds, 
this man professing a change of heart did not ask 
whether it would please God if he should identify 
himself with the temperance reformation, but, 



204 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

"Can I afford the pecuniary loss which it ivitt 
bring upon me ?" And what was this but a de- 
sire not to please God, but to save his money ? 
The love of money was stronger than the love of 
God. And what did this prove? That he was not 
"born again/' for no man is a Christian who loves 
son or daughter, lands or wife, more than God. 1 
Five years after this time the man was awakened, 
and confessed himself an unconverted sinner. As 
such he was converted, and gave this sign of a 
heart-change, that he manifested a desire to do 
those things and enjoy those pleasures which God 
approves. 

This is an unmistakable and necessary sign. 

DESIRE TO BE PURE IN HEART. 

But when one is born again he loves and de- 
sires to be pure in heart. All selfishness of heart 
is disagreeable to him, and all impurity of thought, 
affection or motive is a "body of death." 2 The 
Psalmist said, "I hate vain thoughts;" 3 "cleanse 
thou me from secret faults." 4 "Secret sins" 5 
trouble him, and he is not content merely to be 
praised by his fellow-men as a good man, an ex- 

1 Matt. xix. 29 ; x. 37. 2 Rom. vii. 24. 

8 Ps. cix. 113. 4 Ps. xix. 12. 5 Ps. xc. 8. 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 205 

emplary Christian, but he longs to be " pure in 
heart." A fair exterior is not enough. He prays 
for holiness of heart. No doubt NaarHao was 
clothed in rich apparel, and for aught that we 
know his appearance was such as became so great 
a man, but "he was a leper." His reputation for 
bravery, his splendid position and garments, could 
not conceal from himself the loathsome disease 
which was the bane of his life. Others might ad- 
mire his appearance and applaud his deeds, but 
he himself was compelled to think, "Woe is me, 
for I am a leper !" 

The real Christian has a feeling akin to this as 
he looks at the imperfections which mingle in his 
motives, his thoughts and his spiritual exercises. 
It is not merely a question of reward and punish- 
ment, but, now that he has become "anew crea- 
ture in Christ," he perceives that there is beauty 
in holiness, and that sin is "an evil thing and 
bitter." And hence he is inclined often to cry out 
earnestly, "Search me, O God, and know my 
heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; and see 
if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in 
the way everlasting." 

Unconverted persons often notice the confes- 
sion which Christians make of their great sins 

18 



206 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

against God, and wonder whether they are such 
great sinners as they profess to be, or whether it 
is a mere affectation or habit. As compared with 
their fellow-men they are not great sinners, but 
as judged by the perfect holiness of God they feel 
themselves to be vile. In proportion as they 
advance in holiness does their perception of the 
hatefulness of sin grow keen. 

A stranger was once admiring some beds of 
pinks. There were hundreds of flowers of every 
variety and color, and to him, with his ignorance 
of floral botany, they all seemed perfectly beauti- 
ful, but the gentleman who owned the garden 
remarked, "If I find a dozen perfect pinks among 
all these, I shall be satisfied." He then took one 
and said, " You think this perfect, but here is an 
imperfection which makes it look ugly to me." 
"Why did the flower seem perfect to the one, but 
imperfect to the other? His knowledge of botany 
and his practical acquaintance with flowers ac- 
counted for the difference. 

One may look at a work of art, a painting, a 
statue or a temple, and admire it, while a Michael 
Angel o or a Praxiteles, looking at the same work, 
would condemn it as defective in perspective, 
proportion, outline, color or some other quality. 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 207 

What is no defect to one in his ignorance of art is 
a great blemish to the artist with his cultured 
eye. 

It is thus with a real Christian. The nearer 
he draws to God, the clearer become his percep- 
tions of the loveliness of holiness, the more hateful 
will sin appear to him. It is a notable fact that 
the Apostle Paul was not far from heaven when 
he exclaimed, "O wretched man that I am ! Who 
shall deliver me from the body of this death T n 

LOVE FOR CHRIST. 

One who is truly born again will not only be- 
lieve in Christ for salvation, but he will have a 
very tender love for Christ The answer of a pro- 
fessed Christian to the question, ""What think ye 
of Christ?" involves an answer also to this ques- 
tion, "Am I a Christian?" It is true that a God 
so loved the world as to give his only begotten 
Son" to save it; it is also true that the Holy 
Spirit convicts, converts and sanctifies sinners. 
Yet the Lord Jesus Christ is the Mediator be- 
tween God and man; 2 he came into the world to 
save sinners; 3 he was made sin for us, 4 and a curse 
for us, that he might redeem us from the curse 
iRom. vii. 24. 2 lTim.ii. 5. 3 lTim. i. 15. 4 2Cor. v. 21. 



208 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

of the Law. 1 It was Jesus who humbled him- 
self to become a child born of a woman made 
under the Law ; it was Jesus who, being formed in 
fashion as a man, humbled himself and became 
obedient unto death — even the death of the cross. 
It was Jesus who suffered such agony in Gethse- 
mane, such mockings and scornings in Pilate's 
judgment-hall, and such unspeakable anguish on 
Calvary. He did and suffered all this to save the 
sinner, and that sinner who professes to be born 
again, and yet has no love for Jesus his Saviour, must 
be mistaken. If he were truly converted, he would 
see Jesus with eyes clarified and heart quick- 
ened by gratitude. There was no extravagance 
in the expression of the apostle, "the love of 
Christ constraineth us/' 2 nor in that ever present 
tenderness which made it impossible for him to 
write or speak many words which did not in- 
clude the name of Jesus. 

A difference in natural temperament may modify 
the experiences of different Christians. One may be 
possessed of keen and excitable emotions; another 
may be dull and heavy, and not inclined to any 
outgush of feeling; another may have a placid 
temperament fitting him for quiet joy. This 
l Gal. ill. I3i 2 2Cor. v. 14. 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 209 

natural temperament will manifest itself in the 
love which each one shows for Christ. The first 
will often be dissolved in tearful tenderness, and 
his emotions will rush forth like a mountain 
brook. The second will be marked by a business- 
like air, a sluggish impassibility very much like a 
Western river. The third will not have the out- 
gushing emotion of the first, nor sluggish emo- 
tions of the second, but his feelings are serene as 
a summer's sky > deep and clear as the waters of a 
Northern lake. But while there is this difference 
of manifestation, the thing manifested is the same 
in the three : it is the love of Christ. Ask each 
one the question, "Lovest thou Christ more than 
houses, or lands, or friends ?" The first one may 
answer as impetuously and confidently as Peter, 
" Thou knowest that I love Christ." The second 
may answer you as he would a question in busi- 
ness, by simply saying, "Yes, I love Christ." 
The third may answer, with quiet serenity as dif- 
ferent from the outburst of the first as summer's 
sunset is from a summer's shower, 

" How sweet the name of Jesus sounds 
In a believer's ear!" 

One who is truly born again will love Christ. 
18* 



210 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

How can it be otherwise with one who says, " I 
hope I am to be saved, because Jesus died to save 
rue." Suppose a man on the sinking Arctic, 
without a life-preserver to bear him up, or a spar 
to cling to, or a boat to flee to. Death looks him 
in the face, and he sees no way to escape. But an 
entire stranger, on whose compassion he has no 
claims, takes his only life-preserver and gives it 
to him. By this act he is saved, but his bene- 
factor is lost. Can he ever think of that bene- 
factor without tender feeling? He may have 
more tenderness of feeling at one time than at 
another, but at all times there will be in his heart 
a fountain of affection for his benefactor as unfail- 
ing as a mountain spring. 

LOVE FOR ALL MEN. 

There is another internal evidence of this 
change — the desire to love all men according to the 
will of God. As has been repeatedly stated, love 
to God as a supreme affection is the source of all 
religion, and out of this flows love to our neigh- 
bor. The Apostle John affirms that "if a 
man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he 
is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother, whom 
he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 211 

hath not seen ? And this commandment have we 
from him, That he who loveth God love his 
brother also." 1 

If we examine the petition, " Forgive us our 
debts as we forgive our debtors," and such com- 
mands as these, " Love your enemies ; bless them 
that curse you ; do good to them that hate you, 
and pray for .them which despitefully use you and 
persecute you," 2 we find that a real Christian 
must not only not hate any one, but he must in 
some important sense love every one, whatever 
his character or conduct. 

The Scriptures divide the human family into 
two classes, the friends and enemies of God, the 
good and bad, the holy and wicked, saints and 
sinners. If one has been born again, he will wish 
well to all men, and pity the vilest and worst of 
men, and desire to do them good. He cannot 
habitually, intentionally and without sorrow in- 
dulge in ill-will, hatred or malignity against any 
one, it matters not how bad he is, nor how badly 
he has acted. 

By this it is not implied that a real Christian 
is to approve a bad man or a bad action. He 
may condemn the sin and the sinner, and yet pray 

\ 1 John iv. 20, 21. 2 Matt. vi. 12 ; v. 44. 



212 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

for the sinner's reformation and be grieved if he 
persists to his ruin. 

LOVE FOB BELIEVERS. 

But the one who is " born again" feels a special 
love to all who have experienced the same change 
and believe in the same Saviour. Thus the 
Apostle Peter says to Christians : " Honor (es- 
teem) all men. Love the brotherhood." 1 The 
Apostle Paul says: "As we have therefore oppor- 
tunity let us do good unto all men, especially unto 
them who are of the household of faith." 2 He 
calls them "no more strangers and foreigners, 
but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the 
household of God;" 3 therefore "be ye kind one to 
another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, 
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." 4 
Said our blessed Redeemer the night before he 
was to suffer : " This is my commandment, That 
ye love one another as I have loved you." 5 The 
Apostle John declares : " We know that we have 
passed from death unto life, because we love the 
brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth 
in death." 6 

1 1 Peter ii. 17. 2 Gal. vi. 10. 3 Eph. ii. 19. 

* Eph. iv. 32. 5 John xv. 12. 6 1 John iii. 14. 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 213 

It is a noticeable fact that persons who have 
passed through the same or similar trials have a 
peculiar attachment to one another. Thus, "the 
survivors of the Revolution/' those who had to- 
gether endured the hardship of settling in a new 
country, or those who had escaped the perils of a 
shipwreck, have a mutual sympathy on that 
account. All Christians have felt the sting of 
conviction, the crushing weight of condemnation 
and the joy of pardon through Jesus, and they 
are anticipating the blessedness of being at home 
where the wicked cease from troubling and where 
the weary be at rest. 

It must be more than a mere show of polite- 
ness, an external courtesy of manner. In his 
heart as well as life the one w T ho has passed from 
death to life will " love the brethren." 

These are some of the internal evidences of a 
change of heart, and, honestly tried by these tests, 
how many a professed conversion would appear to 
be as worthless as " the hypocrite's hope, .... 
which shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be 
a spider's web I" 1 

Uobviii. 13,14. 



214 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

EXTERNAL EVIDENCES OF CONVERSION. 

Leaving those evidences of a change of heart 
which come only under the inspection of one's 
self and God, we now examine some which are 
external, and of course open to the inspection of 
men. 

Our blessed Redeemer in a single sentence has 
expressed the signs of a heart-change : " If ye 

LOVE ME, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS;" "If a 

man love me, he will keep my words." 1 To love 
Christ supremely is to be a new creature. That 
love is a spiritual principle in the heart, hidden 
from the view of man. But an outward obedi- 
ence to Christ's words as the result of that hidden 
love is a fact which is open to human inspection. 

DOING THE WILL OF GOD. 

Hence it is an obvious remark that one who 
has experienced this change of heart will strive to 
do the will of God. He may not do that will 
perfectly, but he will try to do it. Whenever or 
wherever he finds the will of God he will aim to 
do it, or if he fails to do so, that delinquency will 
fill him with sorrow. For instance, God says: 
" Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 2 
1 John xiv. 15-23. 2 Ex. xx. 8. 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 215 

A converted man will try to observe this rule. 
He may lift a sheep out of the pit on the Sabbath, 
and he may " loose his ox or his ass from the 
stall and lead him away to watering/' 1 or do any 
other act of mercy or necessity, but he will not 
travel on the Sabbath merely for business or 
pleasure or convenience. He will not plough or 
sow or reap or gather into barns, or engage in the 
labor of a secular calling or in worldly pleasures 
on that day. 

God commands us to "do that which is hon- 
est," 2 to put away lying and speak every man 
truth with his neighbor, 3 "to live soberly, right- 
eously and godly in this present world," 4 and to 
let our light so shine before men that they may 
see our good works and glorify our Father which 
is in heaven. 5 The man who is dishonest in his 
dealings, lying in his words and wicked in his 
actions, not occasionally under the power of sud- 
den temptation, but intentionally, persistently and 
without sorrow before God, is not a Christian ; he 
has not been born again. The rule is perfectly 
plain and it is as unchangeable as God : " If ye 
love me, keep my commandments." 

1 Matt. xii. 11 ; Luke xiii. 15. 2 2 Cor. xiii. 7. 

3 Eph. iv. 25. 4 Tit. ii. 12. 5 Matt. v. 16. 



216 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

On Patmos, amid visions of surpassing glory, 
the glorified Son of God said : " Blessed are they 
that do his commandments" 1 And repeating the 
same sentiment John said: "He that keepeth 
his commandments dwelleth in him and he in 
him/' 2 

A real Christian will not as a habit see how 
nearly he can approach the line which divides a 
good action from a bad one, a holy life from a 
wicked one. A higher rule controls him, and it 
is this: "Abstain from all appearance of evil." 3 
We all know how easy it is to incur moral guilt, 
and yet to escape the censure of human laws. 
Suppose a man pays his creditor a certain sum of 
money, alleging it to be what he owes him. The 
creditor does not count the money, and will there- 
fore never know that a part of the money due 
was not paid. His debtor detects his own mistake, 
and is sure that his creditor is not aware of it. If 
he be a good man, he will repair that mistake as 
readily as if there were a thousand witnesses to 
the transaction. 

Or suppose that he has intentionally and cruelly 
wronged one who was in his power. He did it 

1 Kev. xxii. 14. 2 1 John iii. 24. 

3 lThess. v. 22. 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 217 

before his conversion, but now that the love of 
God is the supreme motive of his inner life, he 
will be ready to imitate Zaccheus and say, " If I 
have taken anything from any man by false ac- 
cusation, I restore him fourfold." 

In a word, such a man in all the transactions 
of life will try to do right not because others see 
him, and the opposite course would injure his 
reputation, but because he is seeking to do the 
commandments of God. 

There is a style of life which is called Chris- 
tian, but which is not Christian. It consists in a 
sort of gravity of demeanor and a round of ob- 
servances. It has a time for prayer and for wor- 
ship. It surveys its duties into regular and 
square proprieties. Its observances are too refined 
and spiritual for the common deeds of life. When 
"the programme" of religious proprieties has 
been complied w r ith, the man is ready to call it 
"done" and to descend to a lower sphere in which 
the religious element is not to enter. As a wor- 
shiper of God he was devout and punctilious, 
but religion must keep itself within its own 
bounds, and not defile its garments by mixing 
with common men in common every- day life! 
This is no caricature. " O my soul, come not 

19 



218 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

thou into their secret ; unto their assembly, mine 
honor, be not thou united." 

Not for the purpose of cavil at religious people 
as is the custom of some, but to show the neces- 
sity of bringing our religion into all our dealings, 
the remark of a gentleman who was skeptical 
may be repeated : " You talk of religion as a 
controlling force, changing the heart and purify- 
ing the life. My brother is a Quaker. How 

beautiful his life! How simple-hearted his in- 
tegrity ! How admirable his kindness ! I can 
understand his life, and it commands my appro- 
bation. But come with me into the church 
whose doctrines you are offering to my accept- 
ance. Look down that broad aisle, and select a 
few men who profess to be living under the con- 
trol of religious principle. There is Mr. A., 
wholly absorbed in the acquisition of money. I 
tell you, if his life be a sign, Mammon and not 
God governs Mr. A. There is Mr. B., who does 
not hesitate to take the advantage of a man's em- 
barrassments to help himself. With vast sums at 
his command, he has no compassion on those un- 
fortunate enough to be in his power. There is 
Mr. C, in some respects the best lawyer in the 
city, but he is as cruel as the grave and as relent- 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 219 

less as death. Yet you say the essence of religion 
is love to God and love to man !" 

And in this strain he commented on individual 
characters, giving me, as he said, "Such a view 
as one took of them in business and actual life. 
They look well enough on the Sabbath and in 
church, but in their dealings every day they are 
apparently no better than men of no religious pre- 
tensions !" 

He had selected the worst specimens from that 
church, and where there were five or ten against 
whom such charges would be true, there were at 
least fifty times as many against whom no such 
charges could be maintained. Yet those few 
illustrate the view here presented, that if the 
heart has experienced a change, that change will 
show itself not merely in the proprieties of religious 
worship, but in the business and pleasures of 
common life. Meet such a man "on 'change," in 
the counting-room, in the law-office, in the court- 
room, as debtor, creditor, counselor, or judge, in 
trifling and in great transactions, or meet him in 
the shop or at the loom or plough, and you say, 
"He is a good man, and the kind of religion 
which governs him is what the world wants and 
will be the better for having !" 



220 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

"By their fruits shall ye know them," and it is 
only needful to repeat once more the all-compre- 
hensive sign given by our Lord : " If a man love 
me, he will keep my word." Thousands who 
have very little knowledge of theology, and make 
no pretensions to learning or wit, are able to de- 
tect this sign of a change of heart, that he who 
has experienced it is trying to keep God's com- 
mandments and to glorify God by doing right in 
all situations. 

SELF-DENIAL, 

There is another external sign of conversion 
which deserves separate mention — self-denial for 
the sake of Christ. "If any man will come after 
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross 
and follow me." 1 Human nature gravitates strong- 
ly toward self-indulgence, and a real convert will 
resist this tendency. It may be easier to abstain 
from warning a sinner to flee to Christ than to be 
faithful, but he will deny his selfish inclinations 
this indulgence. It may gratify his pride of 
position to indulge either in expensive adorn- 
ments of person or home, so as to interfere with 
the urgent calls for help to preach the gospel to 
1 Matt.xvi. 24. 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 221 

every creature. If so, he will deny himself in 
this respect for Christ. And thus by the duties 
and labors he performs, and the self-indulgences 
from which he refrains, he shows that he is deny- 
ing himself for Christ. 

As things exist in this world there can be no 
genuine change of heart which will not show 
itself in self-denial for Christ. This is evident 
from such declarations as these: " Whosoever doth 
not bear his cross and come after me cannot be 
my disciple." 1 "Yea, all that will live godly in 
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 "Strive 
to enter in at the strait gate." 3 The same fact is 
implied in another class of declarations: "It is 
good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor 
anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is 
offended, or is made weak." 4 " If ye live after the 
flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do 
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." 5 

The drift of these declarations cannot be mis- 
taken, and if a person professes to be converted, 
and yet feels no strong purpose to check and put 
down his own selfish inclinations, doing many a 
duty which was painful and trying and leaving 

1 Luke xiv. 27. 2 2 Tim. iii. 12. 3 Luke xiii. 24. 

4 Kom. xiv. 21. 5 Rom. viii. 13. 

19* 



222 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

untouched many an indulgence greatly desired, 
he ought to doubt his own piety and re-examine 
the grounds of his hope, 

A PUBLIC PROFESSION. 

One truly born again will identify himself with 
God's people by a public profession of Christ unless 
prevented by some extraordinary reason. Even in 
the times when a public profession of Christ could 
not be made without the risk of property, social 
position and life, the Christian must avow his 
faith in Christ. This is evident from such a 
declaration as this, " Whosoever doth not bear his 
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." 1 
The manner in which Mcodemus and Joseph 
of Arimathea are mentioned marks with con- 
demnation the attempt to be a disciple of Christ 
secretly. 2 The Apostle Paul earnestly enforces 
the same duty: " Wherefore come out from 
among them, and be ye separate, saith the 
Lord. 3 

This is one duty which our blessed Lord com- 
mands every disciple to perform — to commemorate 
his death by the communion of the Lord's Supper : 
" This do in remembrance of me." I see no dis- 

iLuke xiv. 27. 2 John iii. 2; xix. 38. 3 2Cor. vi. 17. 



SIGNS OF THE CHANGE. 223 

cretion in this matter. A disciple of Christ is sol- 
emnly bound to do this, if it be possible for him 
to do it. He must not aim to be a disciple secretly, 
performing religious duties in secret, whilst in 
the world he is regarded as opposed to Christ. 
He must say to the world, "I am the Lord's, 
.... and subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, 
and surname himself by the name of Israel." 1 
As soon as he hopes he is born again he must 
desire not to be secretly a follower of Jesus but 
apparently a servant of the devil, but to be alto- 
gether on the Lord's side. 

No doubt many make a fatal mistake in this 
respect, and get into the Church without conver- 
sion. Through neglect to examine themselves 
they were deceived. This does not contradict 
the assertion that the desire to profess Christ be- 
fore men is one sign of the new birth. 

PEACE IN GOD. 

Finally, a true convert will have peace in God 
as an evidence that he has passed from death to 
life. 

There may be danger of putting undue stress on 
this point and making it a stumbling-block in 

x Isa. xliv, 5. 



224 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

the way of drooping Christians. The general 
truth that one who is "born again" ought to rejoice 
is evident in such sayings as these. Thus Jesus 
said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto 
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let 
it be afraid." 1 Even to those who are persecuted, 
Jesus says, "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy: 
for, behold, your reward is great in heaven." 2 
Repeatedly the Apostle Paul commands his breth- 
ren to "rejoice in the Lord," as if it were not 
merely a privilege, but a necessary sign of the new 
birth. 

There are times in the experience of real 
Christians when the soul is filled with gloom, 
sorrow and despondency, but this is not the 
prevailing feeling. One who has been justi- 
fied by faith in Jesus has peace with God, 3 one 
who has passed from death unto life must feel 
joy in pardon, and one who both desires and ex- 
pects to reach heaven not merely has the right to 
rejoice and to be exceeding glad, but it is his 
duty thus to rejoice. 

1 John xiv. 27. 2 Luke vi. 23. s Kom. v. 1. 




Labor the Road to Vigor. 



Page 225. 



CHAPTER XIV 




CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 

ET us suppose two boys of equal health 
and robustness to pursue the one an 
effeminate, the other a manly, course of 
life. The first one indulges in a luxurious 
and indolent style of living; the other lives oil 
plain but nutritious diet, and engages in manly 
labor and pleasures. The one daintily avoids all 
unnecessary exertion, except perhaps in an over- 
heated ball-room; the other disdains not to hold 
the plough, to swing the axe or wield the spade. 
The first is famous at reclining on the luxurious 
sofa or composing himself to quietness in the 
rocking-chair; the other delights in riding the 
horse and in climbing the mountains. 

A few years pass away, and the two boys have 
become men. They began with equal health and 

The one who has 

225 



vigor, but how is it now 7 ? 



226 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

pursued the effeminate course of life is not the 
equal of the other, whose hard muscles, well- 
developed chest and limbs, ruddy complexion, 
elastic step and tough endurance prove the 
adaptation of his manly course of life to the 
development of a manly man. The main dif- 
ference between the two is to be found in their 
ways of living. You cannot develop a vigorous 
manhood by stuffing a boy with "confectionery 
and deforming him in a rocking-chair. Proper 
food, raiment and exercise are essential to the 
rounding out of a child into a "perfect man." 

The development of the religious life in a con- 
verted soul has been compared to the growth of 
the body. The Apostle Paul calls the Christian 
who has been rightly trained a perfect man, who 
may come " unto the measure of the stature of the 
fullness of Christ." * He exhorts those who have 
been truly born again to "be no more children 
tossed to and fro. 2 "Brethren, be not children in 
understanding; howbeit in malice be ye chil- 
dren, but in understanding be men." 3 

These direct assertions are made more impres- 
sive by such figures as the apostle derives from 
the athletic games of his day : " So run that ye 

iEph. iv. 13. 2 Epb. iv. 14, 3 lCor. xiv. 20. 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 227 

may obtain I therefore so run, not as un- 
certainly ; so fight I not as one who beateth the 
air." " Let us run with patience the race set be- 
fore us." " I have fought a good fight, I have 
finished my course." These figures point to a 
well-developed and vigorous Christian manhood, 
which is in strong contrast with the weakness of 
childhood and a manhood for some cause ill- 
formed and without vigor. 

Suppose a young man w r ho has just been con- 
verted should ask what course to pursue in order 
to become " a perfect man," one who in a spiritual 
sense will be fitted to fight, to wrestle, to run ? 
He desires not merely to live, but to be strong 
and active, a spiritual athlete, and not a mere 
babe or imbecile. 

In order to apprehend the force of the question 
let us consider two facts. Two young men, both 
of whom gave proof of a change of heart, became 
members of one church. The one for many years 
has remained about in the same place spiritually. 
He attends church regularly and -partakes of the 
communion. He is in "good and regular stand- 
ing," and no one can say aught against him, and 
yet he has not grown as a Christian. He is like 
a dwarf, whom time and food are unable to en- 



228 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

large or strengthen. No one thinks of him as 
" a growing Christian." 

The other young man when he was received into 
the church seemed in most respects on terms of 
equality with the first. He then gave no better 
evidences of a change, and was not regarded as 
the more promising of the two. As time moved 
on it became evident that he was " a growing 
man." There was a tone to his prayers and a ring 
in his exhortations which, associated with a very 
consistent life, won for him great consideration. 
It was known that he would be at the conference 
and prayer-meeting unless prevented by a good 
reason, and his brethren felt refreshed by his 
presence. He was not there merely to "count 
one," but as a living man he was there to get and 
to impart religious influence. It is so in every 
sphere in which he moves. He is not what he 
was twenty-seven years ago, and the difference is 
just this, then he was a child , but now he is a man. 

It may well be said that these young converts 
then were children, but since then the one has ad- 
vanced but little beyond the original starting- 
point, "for he is a babe," 1 whilst the other has 
grown into a vigorous Christian man. 

iHeb.v. 13, 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 229 

Wherefore this difference so marked? How 
can a young convert gradually cast off the swad- 
dling-clothes of childhood and attain this man- 
hood ? To the question let an answer be given 
as simple and practical as possible, appealing to 
the word of God and the experiences of Christian 
people as my authority. 

There are two suggestions which will include 
the answer. They relate to the inner and the 
outer life as they bear on Christian manhood. 

THE INNEE LIFE AND CHKISTIAN MANHOOD. 

Every Christian has what may be called an 
inner and an outer life. They both have import- 
ant relations to a well-developed Christian man- 
hood. Look at that Greek boy in his native 
village, engaged in rugged sports and conflicts. 
He has seen men running or Avrestling or boxing 
or hurling the discus, and perhaps he has seen the 
far-famed Olympian or Isthmian games. In his 
heart is the settled purpose to fit himself to con- 
tend for the mastery in these contests. That 
purpose is the beginning of an inner life to him. 
As he grows up he meditates on the difficulties 
and glories of the conflict ; he studies the history 

of particular heroes who have won the prizes ; he 
20 



230 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

practices temperance in meats and drinks; he 
hardens his muscles and toughens his sinews by 
manly exercises. In a word, in seclusion he is 
fitting himself for action in more conspicuous po- 
sitions. When at last he enters the amphitheatre 
and wins the prize, he acts out the purposes and 
the training of his inner life. 

It is so with the Christian man. He has a life 
of meditation and a life of action which are in 
such relations that neither is complete without the 
other. The Christian athlete must look to both 
the life within and the life without if he would 
attain unto ■ ■ the measure of the stature of a per- 
fect man." 

SELF-KNOWLEDGE. 

In considering the relation of the inner life to 
Christian manhood, we may notice that it in- 
volves self-knowledge. Many of the mistakes of 
men would have been avoided had they known 
themselves, and in this self-acquaintance is one 
secret source of success with many men. Owing 
to a lazy unwillingness to take the gauge of their 
faculties, or to a life of active restlessness, many 
men fail to select the sphere in life for which they 
are fitted. In order to growth and right develop- 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 231 

ment a Christian must know himself. He may- 
be hot-tempered, or he may be indolent, or he 
may be covetous, or he may be jealous, or he 
may be envious, or he may be censorious, or he 
may be morally weak in some other characteristic 
or habit. It is his "weight," his " easily-beset- 
ting sin," which he must lay aside in order to 
run the Christian race. It is the weakness 
which his enemy is likely to find out to his in- 
jury. Self-knowledge will teach him to fortify 
himself at any such point. This is of the more 
importance, as it is a singular fact that a person 
is very much inclined to consider himself entirely 
secure at the very point of weakness. 

Every one has a sphere in which he can do 
more good than in any other, and it is his duty 
to try to find it. Perhaps he ought to preach, or 
to teach, or to sell and buy, or to plough, or to 
plane. To find that right position he must know 
himself, or he will be likely to preach when he 
ought to plough, or to be ploughing when he 
ought to be preaching. This self-knowledge, 
pertaining to the inner life of the Christian, is of 
great importance. For want of this some men 
have made irreparable mistakes. David, cum- 
bered with SauPs armor, was not so embarrassed as 



232 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

many a Christian has been when he has worked 
himself out of his proper place. 

THOUGHT ON THE WOEK TO BE DONE. 

This inner Christian life also includes careful 
meditation on the attainment to be made and the 
work to be done. As a general rule, it will be 
found that success in all difficult undertakings 
has been preceded by an earnest study of the thing 
to be done. Thus Whitney brooded over the 
need of a machine to separate the seed from the 
fibre of the cotton, and the immense advantages 
of such an invention. Hence the cotton-gin, 
which has added thousands of millions of dollars 
to human wealth. So also Fulton and Stephen- 
son ; the one pondered on the advantages of apply- 
ing steam to the driving of boats, the other of 
driving land-carriages. Hence we have the 
steamer and the locomotive. 

The Christian must meditate on what God 
requires him to be and to do. He is to be holy; 
let him meditate on that requirement until he be- 
gins to realize its meaning in the character and 
the law of God. He is to do the commandments of 
God under the controlling power of supreme love 
to God, and he must also strive to obey those com- 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 233 

manclments perfectly in thought, word and deed; 
let him meditate until his whole soul is agitated 
with a view of what God requires him to be and 
to do. He will be like the Greek athlete who 
has witnessed the games and studied the thews and 
forces of his competitors, until he feels that, in 
order to victory, his own thews and forces must be 
developed into positive superiority over theirs. 
But for this he may be careless and unaspiring, 
and in consequence fail. 

For want of this habit many Christians fail 
to grow in grace, make little advancement in 
holiness and duty. 

HELPS AND HINDKANCES. 

But this inner Christian life also includes an 
intelligent examination of what may be called 
helps and hindrances. If an engineer were to 
draft the plan of a tunnel through a mountain, 
he would not content himself until he had deter- 
mined the nature of the helps and hindrances. 
The first question would relate to the desirable- 
ness of the tunnel, the next to the money at com- 
mand for boring it, and the next to hindrances. 
He strikes the balance and says, "It can be done," 
or "It cannot be done." In all human enter- 

20* 



234 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

prises the helps and the hindrances are carefully 
weighed, and it should be so with the Christian. 

Wliat are his helps to be and to do what God 
requires? Let him consider that "God is the 
strength of my heart," 1 that "God is our refuge 
and strength, a very present help in trouble," 2 
and that " likewise the Spirit also helpeth our 
infirmities," 3 and then he may say, " I can do all 
things through Christ which strengtheneth me," 4 
" The Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom 
shall I be afraid?" 5 

Is this help accessible? Yes, for it is written, 
"Ask, and it shall be given you;" 6 indeed, so 
greatly does God wish his people to ask him for 
help that he says, "Before they call I will answer; 
and while they are yet speaking I will hear." 7 

The traveler from home often carries with him 
"bills of credit," enabling him wherever he is to 
draw money for his wants. The Christian has 
this help in the form of exceeding great and pre- 
cious promises, and he ought to be fully per- 
suaded that what God has promised he is able 
also to perform. If he would impart force to his 

1 Ps. IxxiiL 26. 2 Ps. xlvi. 1. 3 Kom. viii. 26. 

*Phil. iv. 13. 5 Ps. xxvii. 1. 6 Matt. vii. 7. 

*Isa. lxv. 24. 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 235 

inner life, let the Christian often take down the 
book of "drafts, payable on sight," which God 
has put in his hands. It would be a miracle to 
have a vigorous inner and outer Christian life 
without feeding both upon "the sincere milk of 
the word" and also its "strong meat." 

But he has hindrances as well as helps, and he 
w T ill consider them also. His own unsanctified 
nature, evil habits and companionships, "the 
w T orld, the flesh and the devil," all pass in 
review, so that he is not surprised by them as if 
they were new enemies. He does not vauntingly 
say, "And now shall mine head be lifted up 
above mine enemies round about me," ! until he 
has considered who and how strong those enemies 
are. 

THE REWARD. 

The inner Christian life is also nourished by 
meditations on the reward that will be given to him 
that is faithful. It is true that in a sense "we are 
unprofitable servants," even when we have done 
our duty, and that in the sense of merit no one 
can hope for a reward. All is of grace, and yet 
that grace moves Jesus to say to some, "Well 
done, good and faithful servants," and lays the 
1 Ps. xxvii. 6. 



236 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

ground for expecting that the Lord, the right- 
eous Judge, will give a crown of righteousness 
unto that faithful servant. The Greek wrestler 
often thought of the crown which the victor won, 
the applause of the spectators and the welcome 
home, scarcelv less honorable than the crown 
itself. 

It is not merely a privilege, but it is a duty, 
for the Christian to nourish his spiritual strength 
by meditating on the reward that shall be be- 
stowed on him at the last day. In the light of 
Moses as condensed by the apostle are two sen- 
tences which lay bare the secret impulses of his 
soul: "he had respect unto the recompense of the 
reward," and u he endured as seeing Him who is 
invisible." 1 We have seen that every Christian 
has real difficulties in his way, and if he would 
encourage his heart, renew his strength and van- 
quish his difficulties, let him meditate much on 
heaven as the home and reward of Christ's dis- 
ciple. How many a sigh is stifled, how many a 
grief assuaged, how many a conflict successfully 
terminated, how many a temptation silenced, how 
many a fire quenched, by so meditating on heaven 
as contrasted with earth, the New Jerusalem with 
iHeb. ii. 26, 27. 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 237 

this earthly house of our tabernacle, that the 
Christian can say in transport, 

"O my sweet home, Jerusalem, 
Thy joys when shall I see? 

"Our sweetness mixed is with gall, 

Our pleasures are but pain, 
Our joys not worth the looking on, 

Our sorrows aye remain. 
But there they live in such delight, 

Such pleasure and such play, 
That unto them a thousand years 

Seems but as yesterday. 

" Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! 

Thy joys fain would I see; 
Come quickly, Lord, and end my grief, 
And take me home to thee !" 

THE EXAMPLE OF SAINTS. 

The inner Christian life may be also invigorated 
by meditating on the examples of those who have 
entered into rest This is the very idea on which 
the apostle builds the eleventh chapter of his 
epistle to the Hebrews. The hero-saints of past 
ages were summoned from the grave to become 
the models of those who were yet on earth. Abel, 
and Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, 
and others like them, are named for the study of 



238 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

Christians. They were not angels, but men, who 
attained such a spiritual manhood in the face of 
as serious difficulties as oppose us to-day. 

"Once they were mourning here below, 
And wet their couch with tears ; 
They wrestled hard, as we do now, 
With sins and doubts and fears." 

It is a fact stated in the lives of persons dis- 
tinguished in some calling that they have had 
some model before them to mould their characters 
and inspire their actions. The power of this in- 
timate communion with a model character is won- 
derful. What an influence the characters drawn 
by Homer have had on the warriors of all suc- 
ceeding ages ! How some men have by intense 
meditation on the manners and deeds of Alexan- 
der, Csesar and Napoleon seemed to reproduce 
those characters in their own souls and lives ! How 
powerful the influence of John Howard and 
Florence Nightingale on those whose minds have 
gone out to commune with them in their deeds of 
Christ-like goodness! It is almost needless to add 
that the same principle perverted is the great cor- 
rupter of thousands who ponder, admire and im- 
itate the foul heroes of the pirate ship, the 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 239 

robber's den and the ruffian's ring. It is this 
which constitutes the web and woof of the apos- 
tle's emphatic warning, " Be not deceived ; evil 
communications corrupt good manners." 1 To be 
in constant contact and communion with a cha- 
racter which is bad or good in a marked degree is 
to undergo an assimilation to that character — at 
least, such is the tendency. "He that walketh 
with w T ise men shall be wise; but a companion of 
fools shall be destroyed." 

Hence, the Christian may nourish his spiritual 
life by meditating often and earnestly on those 
great characters who once ran this race and 
fought this good fight, and won this crown of 
righteousness. The company of an earnest Chris- 
tian is a hopeful blessing, and the memory of a 
saint tends to elevate us above the earthly. Who 
can meditate on the names of Moses, Joseph and 
Paul without becoming a better and more zealous 
Christian? If one shuts himself up in some nar- 
row fissure in society into which no earnest work- 
ing Christian comes, and in which the memory of 
no saint like a brilliant star sheds light, he will 
be narrow and one-sided in his views and weak 
and simple in his inner life. He may be a real 
1 1 Cor. xv. 33. 



240 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

Christian, but it is in the sense in which a fool or 
an idiot is a man. 

COMMUNION WITH GOD. 

Finally, the inner Christian life is made strong 
by communion with God. Much that has been 
said in the previous remarks is applicable here. 
God is the supreme centre and governor of the 
Christian's soul, and his love is the mainspring of 
all his actions. Hence, if one has been truly con- 
verted — that is, if the supreme selfishness of his 
heart has been succeeded by supreme love to God — 
he must of necessity think much of God. So 
the Psalmist : " My meditation of him shall be 
sweet. I will be glad in the Lord." " My soul 
waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch 
for the morning." 1 

An affectionate son was very sick, and in pro- 
portion to his weakness did his thoughts and 
affections go out toward his mother. If she were 
in the room, he loved to look at her, to hear her 
voice and to feel her hand. No one was able so 
well as she to smooth his pillow, arrange his food 
and medicine and administer those almost name- 
less delicacies of word, look and deed which 
1 Ps. eiv. 34 ; cxxx. 6. 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 241 

cheer up an invalid's chamber like the light of 
the morning. If she were absent even for a little 
while, he was thinking of her and wishing for her 
return. With such an affection for his mother 
and at such a season of weakness not many mo- 
ments could pass without his thoughts dwelling 
upon her, and the more his thoughts dwelt upon 
her character and maternal goodness, the stronger 
grew his affection for her. 

It is even so with the Christian. He loves 
God, and God is in his thoughts. There are sea- 
sons when he experiences that joy which arises 
from a sense of God's special presence in his soul. 
This inward experience he finds especially when 
he meditates upon God as infinite, holy, good, 
and as manifest in the person of Christ. He 
looks at God as infinitely glorious and lovely ; 
and as one is refreshed by looking at the person 
and thinking of the character of some dear and 
noble friends, so is the Christian in thinking of 
God, only in an infinitely higher degree. 

He also invigorates his inner life by reading of 
God in the Holy Scriptures. " The heavens de- 
clare the glory of God and the firmament showeth 
his handiwork," but the statutes and the word of 
the Lord are perfect, pure, clean, enduring for 

21 Q 



242 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

ever, and more to be desired than gold/ because 
they describe God to the Christian. As with 
anointed eyes he reads this word he experiences 
the benediction of Christ : " Blessed are the pure 
in heart, for they shall see God." *The error of 
the natural heart esteeming God to be altogether 
such a one as itself is corrected by meditating on 
God as he is revealed in his word. 2 He who 
would have a vigorous life in his soul must come 
near to God by thinking much on his word. 

But by peayer the Christian in a special 
sense communes with God. The great Teacher 
says to him : " When thou prayest enter into thy 
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door pray to 
thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father 
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." 3 
If a gardener should at night enrich and moisten 
the soil about a vine, his secret labor would bring 
him a reward open to the inspection of all in the 
thriftiness of its growth and the abundance of its 
fruit. The culture was in secret, but the fruit was 
not in secret. 

Thus also a Greek athlete might spend years 
of the most patient preparation for the national 
games. Very temperate in his food, very regular 
1 Ps. xix. 1-11. 2 Ps. 1. 21. 8 Matt. vi. 6. 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 243 

in sleep, and very zealous and indefatigable in his 
development of every physical force, yet his prep- 
aration would be in secret. It would be carried on 
in retirement, known only to a few, but when he 
steps into the arena his muscular and agile body 
and his victory in each toughly-contested conflict 
would be his open reward. The latter would be 
the legitimate result of the former. 

It is so with the Christian man. If in secret 
he commune with his heavenly Father by suppli- 
cation, thanksgiving and adoration, if in his 
closet he tell God his wants and his sins, his 
weaknesses and his sorrows, and in that sacred 
retirement wrestle with God as Jacob did, saying, 
"I will not let thee go except thou bless' me," 
then shall he be so " filled with all the fullness 
of God," so shall God's strength be made perfect 
in his weakness, that he may in truth be called 
" Israel," a prince of God, for as a prince he 
has " power with God and with men." 1 

There was a certain humble Christian woman 
moving in a humble and retired sphere. She 
was the youngest child of a large family, and 
from her earliest infancy was afflicted with such 
infirmities of body as often put her life in jeo- 
1 Gen. xxxii. 26-28 ; Eph. iii, 19 ; 2 Cor, xii, 9, 



244 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

pardy and constantly shaded it with pain. This 
delicacy of health inclined her friends to the ami- 
able fault of too much indulgence. They did not 
think she would be with them long, and they un- 
wisely refrained from laying unwelcome restraints 
upon her inclinations. As she grew up to woman- 
hood, she became more and more peevish and 
fretful. Ill-health and ill-training had combined 
to make her wretched, and also those about her. 
Naturally very benevolent and tender-hearted, she 
distressed her friends with her jealousy of being 
overlooked or undervalued. In naturalgifts she 
possessed only ordinary talents, and these had re- 
ceived no very careful culture in early life. 

That woman was converted to God, and it is 
not a rash assertion that without doubt now in 
heaven she is shining " as the brightness of the 
firmament" and " as the stars for ever and ever," 
because she was wise to " turn many to righteous- 
ness." Rarely was there a more devout Christian 
in the sphere she occupied. She was one whose 
piety was above suspicion. In the Sabbath- school 
her success was very remarkable. It was a rare 
occurrrence that a youth could be in her class a 
number of months without manifesting anxiety 
about his soul's salvation. In the midst of sur- 



CHILDHOOD AND MAXHOOD. 245 

rounding coldness there was a perennial revival 
in her class, like the verdure about a fountain in 
the desert. The most of her scholars were con- 
verted, and gave good evidences of piety. People 
wondered at the results, but could those who 
wondered have looked into the humble dwelling 
which she occupied they would have seen two facts 
— not casual but constant facts — which explain- 
ed her success in winning souls to Christ. Ly- 
ing open on the bed was her well-worn Bible, 
which she diligently perused when she was resting 
herself. She did not merely read it, but labor- 
iously committed portions of it to memory so 
that she seemed to speak in the language of that 
Book even about the common transactions of life. 
This sacred word was the light to her feet, and 
it was also the food to her soul. But this was only 
one secret of her success, for by that bed was a 
chair at which she knelt before God in holy com- 
munion and faith at least as often as the Psalmist, 
who says : " Seven times a day do I praise thee 
because of thy righteous judgments." Because 
she searched the Scriptures and invigorated her 
inner life by communion with God, in spite of 
serious obstacles she lived most happily and suc- 
cessfully, and died in the full assurance of hope. 
21* 



246 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

The lines of thought here discussed concerning 
the inner Christian life are of very great import- 
ance, and are in conflict with the tendencies of 
Christian experience in our times. There is far 
too little attention paid to this inner life as the 
source of a vigorous and well-proportioned outer 
life. The great saints of the old dispensation, 
and of the new also, were men who meditated 
profoundly, read the Holy Scriptures reverently, 
wrestled in prayer as for their lives, and who 
travailed in birth until Christ was formed in their 
souls, and we shall not vie with them in their ex- 
cellence and triumphs until we imitate them in 
their attention to the inner life of the soul, keep- 
ing with all diligence the heart, out of which are 
the issues of life. 

THE OUTEK LIFE AND CHRISTIAN MANHOOD. 
A LIFE OF ACTIVE DUTY. 

A life of active duty is necessary to the develop- 
ment of a Christian manhood. One may hide 
himself in a monk's cell a score of years, kneeling 
before a picture or a cross, meditating on the pas- 
sion of Christ and the love of God, and yet he 
will not attain that which we choose to name 
" Christian manhood." Nor will he attain it by 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 247 

living a life of meditation in any seclusion what- 
ever, reading the choicest religious books, includ- 
ing the Bible, praying fervently and singing 
devoutly. He would become a " perfect man" 
by such a course no sooner than a young Greek 
could become a triumphant athlete by meditating 
on the heroes of the games without an effort to 
imitate their actions. He may become posted in 
the theory and facts of religion, he may be a 
sound theologian, and yet he will be a one-sided 
man, an imperfect man, and not one who has 
come " unto the measure of the stature of the full- 
ness of Christ." If a man should follow some 
occupation which should develop the arms and 
chest, but shrivel the rest of his body, or which 
should enlarge and intensify his brain, draining 
away the blood and vital forces of the body to 
this one organ, the development could be no more 
unnatural than that which cultivates the inner 
life, the life of meditation, but neglects the outer 
life, the life of action. 

It is true that there are some apparent excep- 
tions to this statement. Some persons are shut 
up in close retirement by the afflictions which 
God sends. Such have to " suffer the will of 
God," and in so doing come out from themselves 



248 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

and enact their inner spiritual life in their endur- 
ance of suffering. Besides this, it is doubtful if 
there be many instances in which those thus 
secluded cannot, if they will, "do the will of 
God." A suggestion, a "word in season," a look 
of submission, a prayer, — how often does the sick 
saint wield these instrumentalities with power for 
his master! How often does he by his submis- 
sion to the divine w T ill show to those about him 
the beauty of holiness and the glory of God's 
sustaining grace! The exception mentioned is 
only apparent. 

But in all ordinary cases there must be active 
obedience to God in all the walks of life. Let 
me illustrate this thought by referring to a few 
facts. 

PUBLIC WOJRSHIP. 

To develop the Christian manhood to a certain 
extent, the inner life must assume some outward 
religious forms. A form, however imposing it 
may be, is as empty as " sounding brass or a 
tinkling cymbal" if the spirit of religion be not 
in it. Some reverse this statement, and declare 
the spirit to be everything and the form nothing. 
This is an error. If one should say, "I remem- 
ber Christ and his death every day, and there- 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 249 

fore I do not think it obligatory on me to cele- 
brate the Lord's Supper," it might be said to him, 
" Christ has said, 'This do in remembrance of me/ 
and you have no right to substitute something 
else. If you do set aside his command, it is one 
proof that you have not the spirit of religion, 
since the rule is, 'If ye love me keep my com- 
mandments/ " 

Public worship is treated in the Bible as essen- 
tial to the well-being of society and the growth 
of piety in the individual Christian. Hence it is 
that we find this in the old dispensation to be an 
established principle that people must come to- 
gether on the Sabbath for worship, praise and in- 
struction. Under the Christian dispensation the 
same fact is apparent and the same principle 
enforced: "Let us consider one another to pro- 
voke unto love and to good works; not forsaking 
the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner 
of some is, but exhorting one another; and so 
much the more as ye see the day approaching." 1 

This is no less an obligation laid by the divine 
command than it is a necessity growing out of our 
wants as communities and individuals. Any com- 
munity which has not public worship will sink in 
1 Heb. x. 24, 25. 



250 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

morals, and any person who strikes out this grand 
element of life from his practice will certainly 
grow indifferent to the claims of religion. Take 
any Christian professor, however zealous, and let 
him stay away from public worship any consider- 
able time without a good cause, and it will trans- 
form him. Here is the explanation of those sad 
changes which so often take place in Christians 
emigrating to new countries. They find no 
churches, and yield weakly to the difficulties of 
the case instead of saying : "If we worship in a 
barn or in the woods, we must worship God 
publicly for our own sake and that of our 
children." 

He who would grow into a sturdy Christian 
manhood must meet "the great congregation" 
to worship God if he can. Let him strain his 
muscles to the utmost from early Monday morn- 
ing until late Saturday night in his worldly busi- 
ness, and then decline to attend church on the 
Lord's day because he feels tired and worn out, 
or let him say, "Our singing is not to my liking, 
our minister's discourses are weak. I have the 
sermons of the great Master of the pulpit, and I 
have the Bible, and God is in every place, and I 
can worship him as well at home as at the church, 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 251 

and much more to my liking." Or let him ha- 
bitually be deterred from God's house by its being 
too hot or too cold, too Avet or too dry, or by some 
other excuse which the ingenuity of such persons 
is quick to suggest, and his piety and his comfort 
as a Christian will suffer. He may not make his 
church-going depend on the accidental circum- 
stance that some favorite is to " hold forth the 
word of life," or absent himself because some one 
is to preach* God's truth who has small gifts 
wherewith to dazzle or attract. If he be not a 
habitual attendant on public worship from prin- 
ciple, his piety will wilt as a plant withers when 
a w r orm is eating off its root. 

Depend upon it, the true Christian who is 
growing up to a vigorous manhood will long for 
the courts of the Lord, and feel that they are 
blessed who dwell in God's house. 1 Said the 
Psalmist: "One thing have I desired of the 
Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in 
the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to 
behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in 
his temple." 2 

1 Ps. lxxxiv. 1-4. 2 Ps. xxvii. 4. 



252 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 



FAMILY WORSHIP. 

Family worship is another duty which is im- 
plied in the organization of the family into the 
school, the main intention of which is to train the 
young for heaven. 1 Here we find the means of 
bringing divine worship each day to bear on the 
minds of all in the family. It is not enough to 
go to church on the Sabbath, nor ought parents 
to content themselves with this. If they do, they 
and their households will as surely feel the effects 
of that course as would their bodies if fed only 
once in seven days. Here the spirit and the form 
of religion are necessary. " What God hath 
joined together let no man put asunder." 

The inner life which communes with God must 
take form in the outer life, the life of meditation 
in the soul must take form in this essential rela- 
tion of life, working itself outwardly for the glory 
of God in the right training of the family. How 
true this statement is may be seen in the fact that 
we can name no vigorous, zealous, heavenly-mind- 
ed Christian whose inner life does not prompt him 
to build a family altar on which the fire never 
goes out. To such a one it is not merely an item 
iDeut, vi. 3-9. 



CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 253 

in the church covenant, irksome, useless and, if 
possible, to be nullified, but it is a blessed privi- 
lege of which the soul avails itself to manifest 
and promote the glory of God by feeding its own 
piety and developing the piety of others. 

SECRET WORSHIP. 

The same is true of closet devotion. There 
must, if possible, be some form through which the 
inner life expresses itself. The Quaker sits still 
and waits for the movings of the Spirit, and some 
Christian professors ask themselves, "What ne- 
cessity is there for us to enter into our closet and 
there pray ? Why not pray when we are walk- 
ing or in company or at our business?" This 
last every Christian ought to do ; but let him be- 
ware lest he allow this to be an excuse for omit- 
ting to comply with Christ's direction : " When 
thou pray est enter into thy closet, and when thou 
hast shut thy door pray to thy Father which is 
in secret." l There must be an actual place and 
a real form of worship. The bowed knee, the 
closed eye, the articulated prayer for help and in 
thanksgiving for mercy, must help the worship- 
er to express his heart-devotions to God in secret. 

1 Matt. vi. 6. 

22 



254 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

Such is the nature God has given us that we 
must comply with this rule to develop the Chris- 
tian manhood by allowing the inner life to assume 
some outward religious forms. There must in all 
worship be a harmony between the inner life and 
the outward forms. The professed worshiper 
who irreverently sits upright, with unclosed eyes, 
during prayer, public or social, is an uwcomely 
and probably an unprofited object. 




CHAPTER XV. 

ACTIVE DUTY. 
AN OPEN PROFESSION. 

UPPOSE we were to see the body of a man 
lying on the ground, and that we should 
dll hear the physician declare that the man is 
alive and in vigorous health. We feel 
for his pulse, but find none; we put our ear to his 
heart, but can detect no movement; we find his 
body cold, and cannot perceive that he breathes. 
He neither walks, nor talks, nor breathes, nor 
feels, nor acts, and in the face of the most posi- 
tive assertion to the contrary we would say, "The 
man is dead, for if he had life in him he w r ould 
show it in action." But we can believe this 
child to be alive even when he is motionless in 
sleep, because his heart beats and his lungs act. 
When he is awake, the signs of life and health 
cannot be mistaken. All his senses alive, his 

255 



256 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

glowing cheek and incessant activity cannot be 
mistaken. 

When a sinner is converted he is compared to 
one who has been raised from the dead. 1 To 
appreciate this figure recall the scenes which 
attended the raising of Lazarus to life. As he 
was laid in the grave, the evidences that he was 
dead were found in his lack of sensibility to ex- 
ternal objects and his inability to do anything. 
Mary might have knelt at that grave and have 
poured forth her plaintive grief as she said, "O 
my brother, come back to us !" and yet that dead 
body would have shown no signs of feeling. 
But when Jesus said to him, " Lazarus, come 
forth," then he arose, he saw, he heard, he felt, 
he walked, he spake, he ate, he acted. His 
actions proved him to be alive. 

If a sinner has been made alive, he will as cer- 
tainly show it as Lazarus did his resurrection. 
This life which shows no action, this alleged con- 
version which shows no change, this good tree 
which brings not forth good fruit, is an impossi- 
bility. We use salt, and it will season and pre- 
serve flesh; we light a candle, and it will shine; 
we put life into a heart, and it will beat; and so 
!Eph. ii. 1; Col. ii. 13. 



ACTIVE DUTY. 257 

also, when God breathes into man's nostrils the 
breath of life, he will become a living soul, show- 
ing his life by doing what God commands him to 
do. 

But what must a Christian man do in order 
that he may not merely and barely demonstrate 
that he is alive, but that he may be a vigorous 
man? One thing he must do — he must openly 
profess his faith in Christ. Some think that 
religion is a matter solely between each man and 
God in such a sense that a man can keep his 
religion secret like a concealed charm. This 
does not tally with the Scriptures. Thus, when 
Moses found Israel worshiping the golden calf, 
he stood in the gate of the camp, and said, " Who 
is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me." 
Elijah said to the people on Mount Carmel, 
"How long halt ye between two opinions? If 
the Lord be God, follow him ; but if Baal, then 
follow him." Our blessed Lord said, "He that 
is not with me is against me: and he that 
gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." "For 
whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my 
words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed 
when he shall come in his own glory, and in his 

Father's and of the holy angels." "Wherefore 
22* R 



258 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

come out from among them, and be ye separate, 
saith the Lord." 1 

Where two parties are opposed to each other, 
even when there is enough of human fallibility 
to prove that neither may be entirely right, con- 
cealed friendship is regarded with no little dis- 
pleasure. But when one party is entirely right 
and the other wrong, any attempt to walk so near 
the dividing line as to render it doubtful to which 
party a man belongs is regarded with no favor. 
God has a controversy with a world of rebels, 
and he commands every loyal subject to let that 
loyalty appear so clearly that no one will be in 
doubt whether he is on the devil's side or on 
God's. What was thought during our Revolution 
of the men who pretended to love their country, 
and yet aided her enemies with intelligence, food 
and shelter? or of those who stood no one knew 
where? 

If a man have religion in his heart, it will in- 
cline him to number himself as one of God's 
people. It may not be charitable to say that a 
real Christian may not be kept back from a pub- 
lic profession, but that it will be in the face of 
God's directions and to his most serious injury, 
^Cor. vi. 17. 



ACTIVE DUTY. 259 

we do assert. AVho can name a bright, lively, ac- 
tive, joyful Christian who has not performed this 
duty ? 

ACTIVE DUTY — WORKS OF FAITH. 

It is evident that a mere profession of faith in 
Christ is not enough. If a merchant should ad- 
vertise for a bookkeeper, and a young man should 
profess to be the possessor of that knowledge, the 
question determining his qualifications would be 
not what he professes to do, but what he actually 
does. He would not be continued a week on any 
profession of his own or recommendation of 
others unless these were shown to be deserved by 
his work. 

It is a notorious fact that a physician who 
should make loud profession of ability and skill 
would be frowned on as a quack if in the treat- 
ment of patients he should show no skill. 

It is so in the duties which grow out of the 
various relations which men hold to God and one 
another. Professions in order to command con- 
fidence must be accompanied by works. The 
profession of piety is no exception to the general 
rule. 

If, then, a sinner professes to have in his soul 



260 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

the inner life of piety, what in addition to a pro- 
fession must he do in the way of works in order 
to the development of a strong Christian man- 
hood? 

A Consistent Life. 

The very nature of that inward change which 
he professes to have experienced shows that he 
must glorify God by a consistent life among men. 
This direction is one that is more easily under- 
stood than defined. A certain Christian professor 
once called on a sick woman to pray with and 
comfort her in her trouble. After he had spoken 
a few words of sympathy and prayed with her he 
left the room. As the door closed she said to an 
unconverted daughter : " There goes a good man !" 
Some years ago a Christian man, the governor of 
one of our States, learned that a stranger was 
very sick at a public-house, and forthwith, as a 
Christian and church officer, he visited the sick 
man, spoke to him about Jesus, and then prayed 
with him. Said the person who stated the fact : " I 
there saw what is not often seen — the governor of 
a State as a Christian elder visiting and praying 
with the stranger who was sick." And who that 
hears the fact does not say at once: "This cer- 



ACTIVE DUTY. 261 

tainly is a good man. Here is a Christian who 
lives a consistent life among men !" 

There is a way of living — a demeanor — which 
commands the approbation of people who are 
very apt to say of him who thus lives : " He is a 
good man," and of another who does not thus 
live : u He is not a Christian — at least, he does not 
act like one." 

Many years ago in a populous town a Christian 
professor w 7 as conducting a large and popular 
school. A new pupil was entered, and a few 
days afterward surprised the relative with whom 

he was boarding by asking whether Mr. 

was a member of the church. He was answer- 
ed in the affirmative, and then the inquiry was 
made of him : " Why do you ask such a ques- 
tion ? Does not Mr. live like a Christian ?" 

" I should think not," was the boy's answer, 
" for I have been there a week, and he has not 
opened the school with prayer once, nor read the 
Scriptures to us, nor said one word which would 
show that he cared anything about our souls. 
"When he punishes the boys he does it cruelly, and 
I have not seen anything in his conduct which 
looked as if he were a Christian." 

His reasoning w r as just. This man was occu- 



262 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

pying a place of great importance, and he was 
bound to live a Christian life there among those 
pupils. If the inner life of piety had been vig- 
orous, it would have shaped his outer life in such 
a glorious sphere for doing good. 

A young Christian went from home into new 
associations, and one of his acquaintances was 
asked concerning his course. The reply was : 
" He lives very consistently. His employer speaks 
in glowing terms of his conduct, and in our 
church he is a very active Christian." 

It must be thus in every position which the 
Christian fills. In the family, the shop, the store, 
the field, the office, the school, the social gather- 
ing, the religious meeting — whatever the position 
in order to be a perfect man who has come to the 
measure of the stature of Christ, he must glorify 
God by a consistent life. He must let his light 
shine before men. 

WINNING SOULS. 

He must also work to win souls to Christ In 
other words, he must strive to extend the domin- 
ion of Christ among mankind. 

This world is given to Christ as the reward for 
his suffering the penalty of the Law in the place 



ACTIVE DUTY. 263 

of sinners. 1 The subjugation of this world to 
Christ is to be effected through human instru- 
mentality. Using a military figure, the apostle 
calls Jesus the captain of our salvation. His sol- 
diers are converted sinners, and to them he says, 
" Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel 
to every creature/' By a happy phrase these con- 
verted sinners, banded together in one army for 
the conquest of the world, are called "the Church 
militant." Jesus, the captain of this host, has 
appointed certain officers whose main business is to 
organize and train the rtsmk and file of the Church 
for the most efficient action, and to lead them in 
the conflict. All the members of this army, both 
officers and soldiers, have a work to do, and in 
order to the highest efficiency each one must do 
his own work with promptness and energy. 

And how do military commanders secure man- 
liness and efficiency in their troops ? By actual 
service. As a sentinel the soldier must watch, he 
must keep himself trained for service, when or- 
dered to march he must march, and when ordered 
to charge or resist the enemy he must obey. It 
is not by sleeping when he ought to be awake, or 
by resting when he ought to be active, that he be- 
1 Ps. ii. 8 ; Isa. liii. 2. 



264 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

comes a manly and valiant soldier. Hence says 
the apostle to Timothy: " Fight the good fight 
of faith," and in another connection he tells 
him the secret of his own rugged Christian man- 
hood : " I have fought a good fight, I have finish- 
ed my course, I have kept the faith." 1 Active 
exertion as the necessary condition of a vigorous 
manhood is set forth by this great soldier in 
various ways. " This one thing I do : forgetting 
those things which are behind and reaching forth 
unto those things which are before, I press toward 
the mark for the prize of 'the high calling of God 
in Christ Jesus." 2 Very impressively does he 
teach the same truth in telling his fellow-soldiers 
to put on the whole armor of God that they may 
be able to withstand in the evil day. 3 

But one main thing which the Christian soldier 
is to do is to rescue sinners from the dominion of 
Satan. When he himself fled from the camp of 
Satan, renouncing all allegiance to " the god of 
this world," he did not come to the camp of 
Christ merely to hide himself behind the ram- 
parts and find some safe and pleasant retreat 
whence he is never to go to fight the enemy. He 

1 1 Tim. vi. 12 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7. 2 Phil. iii. 13, 14. 

3 Eph. vi. 10-18. 



ACTIVE DUTY. 265 

is to do what he can to rescue those who are in 
the dreadful captivity from which by the grace 
of God he has escaped. 

To drop the figure, as soon as a sinner is con- 
verted he is to seek the conversion of others. If 
he be a parent, he must strive to win his children 
to Christ ; if he be a teacher, he must try to lead 
his scholars to Christ; if he be a mechanic or 
merchant or farmer or lawyer or physician, he 
must not forget that he is to wield his influence 
with the wisdom of the serpent and the harmless- 
ness of the dove to win those about him to 
Christ. He is not to be a mere earth-bowed ser- 
vant of the muck-rake, with painful toil collect- 
ing treasures that moth and rust can corrupt and 
thieves can steal. No, he is to work with energy 
to lead souls to Christ. If he do not, he is re- 
creant to duty, and he will damage his own Chris- 
tian manhood. There never was a vigorous 
manhood produced in any age or circumstances 
when the real convert did not put forth direct, 
positive and earnest effort to lead sinners to God, 
to turn many to righteousness. If any Christian 
professor neglects this duty, let him not wonder 
that his faith is weak, his hope dim, his comforts 
small, his graces dead, his efficiency as near noth- 

23 



266 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

ing as possible. Let him work for Christ, and 
Christ will make his strength perfect in weak- 
ness. 

Here is the vital difficulty with the attempt to 
be a Christian secretly. If a man be alive, he will 
show it to others by his actions, but to have the 
Christian life in one's soul, and yet not show that 
life by breath, by look, by word, by effort, this 
seems incredible, not to say impossible. 

SELF-DENIAL. 

The Christian soldier must deny himself for 
Christ He is not to live a life of ease and self- 
indulgence. He must take up his cross and fol- 
low Christ. He cannot " strive to enter in at the 
strait gate" without denying ungodliness and 
worldly lusts. 1 He must abstain from all appear- 
ance of evil, 2 and also from acts which in them- 
selves may be innocent, for the good of those who 
are weak. 3 Many restraints on his own inclina- 
tions he must lay, and many sacrifices for the 
good of others he must make. Jesus, his Master 
and Saviour, is carrying on a costly war against 
principalities and powers, against the rulers of the 

1 Luke xiii. 24 ; Tit. ii. 12. 2 1 Thess. v. 22. 

3 Rom. xiv. 13-23; 1 Cor. viii. 9; x, 23. 



ACTIVE DUTY. 267 

darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness 
in high places, and he commands his redeemed 
ones to help him with their property. He cannot 
be guiltless if at such a time he has never denied 
himself some innocent gratification to help for- 
ward the cause of Him who, though he was rich, 
for our sakes became poor. Much to be pitied 
and to be blamed art thou, O Christian who hast 
never denied thy appetite, thy love of ease or 
personal adornment in order to have something 
to aid forward the cause of Christ. 

Self-denial for the sake of Christ and a fallen 
world is one of the necessary parts of that train- 
ing which develops and glorifies the Christian 
manhood, and it were as easy to train a Greek 
athlete without right food and exercise as to train 
a perfect Christian man without self-denial. 

PROMOTING THE GOOD OF SOCIETY. 

He must exercise himself in every work which 
promotes the good of society. Said the apostle, 
"Put them in mind .... to be ready to every 
good work." 1 Christian people are "to walk 
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruit- 
ful in every good work." 2 The Christian is a 
!Tit. iii. 1. ■Col. i. 10. 



268 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

citizen, and as such he must pray and work for 
the good of his country. He may not be a bad 
citizen, corrupting the morals of citizens, resisting 
the laws of the land and elevating bad men to 
places of power. He is a member of society, and 
he must be truthful, honest, benevolent, public- 
spirited, in order that society may become more 
virtuous as the years pass away. In blessing the 
world with those institutions which educate the 
young for usefulness, relieve the distresses of the 
unfortunate and restore the fallen, the Christian 
may not be like a snail living in its own narrow 
shell. His influence must be felt in organizing 
the common school and giving it a Christian 
character; in founding and invigorating the 
Christian college, the Christian almshouse, the 
Christian hospital, the Christian asylum. A 
Christian man cannot attain a vigorous manhood 
if he shut himself up in his own little house, 
never planting a tree, or moving a stone, or open- 
ing a fountain, or beautifying a path, or adding 
force to a school, or imparting good influence to 
social customs and institutions. 



ACTIVE DUTY. 269 

THREE IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS. 

The development of character admits of a vast 
variety. One is a strong Christian, another a weak 
one ; one is a joyful Christian, another a despond- 
ing one; one is as onward in his course "as the 
shining light which shineth more and more unto 
the perfect day," another is "unstable in all his 
ways," and is very liable to be "turned aside 
after Satan;" one Christian, like an arch, is 
made stronger and firmer by the very loads 
which to the undiscerning eye seem tending to 
destroy him, another is like a reed easily broken. 
Two Christians may leave the same church and 
community to find a home among strangers who 
are not favorable to practical piety. The one 
will quietly yet resolutely assert his office as a 
candle which is to shine in the midst of dark- 
ness, whilst the other will allow himself to be 
extinguished. Follow the one where you will, 
and you find that he has moulded others to his 
views, and won for religion a position in the 
regards of those about him. Follow the other 
one where you will, and you find no Bethels or 
Ebenezers which he has erected in the midst of 
a gainsaying world. One Christian professor 

23* 



27(L THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

may live so as to excite no suspicion as to his 
profession among strangers, whilst another lives 
so as to be an epistle of Christ known and read 
of all men. A pastor dismisses one Christian 
with no fear as to his demeanor in other connec- 
tions, but he stands in doubt of another, fearing 
that he has bestowed his labor on him in vain. 

There is probably not a community in which 
there are not some who have professed Christ, but 
when transplanted to other circumstances whose 
piety has withered away. The apostle wrote in 
his Epistle to the Romans: "Salute my well 
beloved Epenetus, who is the first fruits of 
Achaia unto Christ." 1 This man, converted in 
Greece, removed to Rome, the capital of the 
world, and yet had not lost his religion by the 
removal. But many a man who believed that he 
was a Christian at the North has not carried his 
religion to the South, and many a professed con- 
vert at the East has found the Alleghanies or the 
Mississippi an impassable barrier to his piety. 
This lamentable fact attends the emigration of 
people from old to new countries, and also from 
the country to the town, or from the town to the 
country. 

1 Kom. xvi. 5. 



ACTIVE DUTY. 271 

In our country and times communities are 
liable to great changes. The West invites the 
emigrant with the promise that present discom- 
forts shall be made up with large gains in the 
end. The city holds up its powerful inducements 
to the enterprising to go thither in the expectation 
of being one of the fortunate ones who shall seize 
the golden prize. The mechanical occupations 
and the learned professions are constantly inviting 
(especially the young) to change. Within twelve 
years from a single country parish at least a hun- 
dred young people have been scattered abroad, 
some to the West, some to the South, some to the 
slopes of the Pacific, some to the city, some here 
and some there. Every year changes are going 
on, and it becomes a question of great moment, 
" How can these young people be guarded from 
harm in these frequent changes?" If a young 
man were to ask for a word of counsel as he is 
about to go from home, among other things the 
following might be given : 

KEEPING THE SABBATH. 

The young person who would secure stability of 
religious character must heep the Sabbath holy, let 
the hindrances be never so great. Those who have 



272 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

narrowly observed the influence of this direction 
on young people going from home are unanimous 
here. In our academies and colleges there are 
peculiar temptations, not openly to profane the 
Sabbath, but to accommodate and lessen the re- 
quirements of that day to a standard which allows 
the reading of books, the attention to studies and 
to social intercourse which do as really violate 
the commandment as pleasure excursions on land 
or water. The student is not under the inspection 
of his parents, and is tempted to regard his at- 
tendance on public worship once or twice on the 
Sabbath as a fulfillment of the fourth command- 
ment. 

It is a fact that many a Christian professor has 
gone back from his high position after entering 
an educational institution. The gold becomes 
dim and the fine gold is changed. Many a young 
man has gone thither with the design of entering 
the ministry, and yet some insidious influence has 
wrought a change, until he has barely maintained 
his place in the church or has become " a casta- 
way." So fearfully frequent at one time were 
these defections as almost to paralyze all efforts to 
educate young men for the ministry. And one 
cause for so sad a change first showed itself in 



ACTIVE DUTY. 273 

their either openly or virtually repudiating the 
Sabbath as a day to be devoted to religious pur- 
poses. Perhaps the young man, ambitious to excel 
in his class, secretly uses a few hours of the Sab- 
bath in study, or he is interested in general liter- 
ature, and finding that his hours of leisure during 
the week for that object are few, he takes a por- 
tion of the Sabbath to read Gibbon or Hume or 
Prescott or Bancroft. It will not take long for him 
to be hardened enough to read on that day Scott 
or Cooper, Dickens or Byron or Shelley. We have 
seen an apple which seemed very fair and sound, 
but beneath the skin it was rotten to the very 
core. Thus has many a student's religion sunk 
to a mere exterior under the corrupting force of 
Sabbath-breaking. 

The temptation to this dangerous course is ex- 
treme with the young who go from home to en- 
gage in some laborious occupation. The six days 
of labor are used up, and when the Lord's day 
comes the mechanic or laborer is tempted to spend 
it in bed, in lounging or improper reading, or 
conversation, or some sort of pleasure-seeking. 
The excuse is that he is tired and that the Sab- 
bath is a day of rest. A youth whose piety ap- 
parently was quite above the ordinary level went 



274 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

to the city to learn a trade. After a time his 
religious zeal suffered a decline, and, whilst he 
did not give up his hope in Christ, he did not 
have that life and joy he once had. A casualty 
laid him on his deathbed, and he told his mother 
with tears the secret of his religious declension. 
Following a very tiresome occupation, he had 
been misled by some companions to think that he 
could best spend the Sabbath by walking abroad 
among the works of nature. Did he not need 
rest, and could he not get it more readily in this 
way than by attending church and strictly ob- 
serving the Sabbath? What the consequences 
would have been had not God interposed no one 
can tell, but one thing is evident — his mistake in 
this respect did him a great injury, and shaded 
w T ith regrets the close of his life, although no one 
doubted his piety. 

A little more than forty years ago several 
families removed from New Jersey to Ohio. In 
the wilderness there was no church, and they had 
not force enough to maintain the Sabbath as a 
day of religious observance. It took only a year 
or two to reduce them to such a situation that 
they hardly hoped they were Christians, and they 
cared but little about the matter. 



ACTIVE DUTY. 275 

The Sabbath is a corner-stone in the temple 
of Christian experience. Tear that out, and the 
building will sooner or later fall. We have a 
striking illustration of this in the Germans, who 
under the mistaken lead of Luther have degraded 
the Sabbath from its high and sacred position. 
They, to a very great extent, seem plunging into 
hopeless infidelity, and in this country the Chris- 
tian Sabbath has no fiercer opponents than they. 
But as one after another is converted he restores 
the Sabbath to its proper place. 

In other words, if either a community or a 
person neglect or trample on the Sabbath which 
God commands all to keep holy, the transgressor 
will show the effects of that sin in a deteriorated 
character and a degenerating piety. Hence it is 
that we so often warn young Christians, when 
about to leave home, that their future Christian 
course will very much depend on the manner in 
which they keep the Sabbath. 

IDENTIFICATION WITH CHRISTIANS. 

If a young Christian would secure stability of 
character, let him be careful to identify himself with 
GooVs cause and people. There is scarcely any- 
thing more unfortunate for a young Christian 



276 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

than to be entangled in the net of a false position. 
Doubtless many a one might trace his religious 
declension back to this source. It is a humiliating 
and very difficult confession to make that we were 
weak enough when joining some new community 
to act a part which seemed to say, "We are not 
Christians. Nay, we are the world's people ! We 
are not so weak as to be religious and associate 
with religious people!" When once that posi- 
tion is taken, a person cannot content himself with 
merely being there, but he must do something to 
show himself worthy of being there. He will 
overcome his scruples so as to walk or ride for 
pleasure on the Sabbath, or read some book, or 
engage in some occupation unbecoming the Sab- 
bath. One wrong step leads to another until he 
is entangled so greatly as to baffle his efforts to 
extricate himself. 

To illustrate this, the case of a young man may 
be cited who went to a new country in quest of 
business. He had made a profession of religion, 
but took no certificate with him. He found a 
very different state of things from that which he 
had left. Profaneness, Sabbath-breaking, in- 
temperance, every style of dancing and carousing, 
gambling, horse-racing, and such like vices, were 



ACTIVE DUTY. 277 

common. Many men of high social position in- 
dulged in these sinful ways as a matter of course. 
Religious people were in the minority, and their 
observances were regarded with contempt or 
treated with hostility. To be a religious man in 
that region required decision, and while his con- 
science approved the religious course, his courage 
w r as not equal to the task of practicing it. No 
one knew him there, and the concealment of his 
opinions and former professions was not difficult. 
He did not by act or word say to his new ac- 
quaintances, "I am a Christian man by profes- 
sion, and am resolved to be one in practice." If 
he went to church on a communion-day, he never 
seated himself with the communicants; he never 
attended the prayer-meeting, and no one suspected 
that he ever prayed. He was recognized and 
treated as one of the w r orld. No one thought it 
out of place to invite him to a dancing-party or 
ball, or to some gay festivity on the Sabbath. 
Having weakly chosen to conceal his profession, 
he was treated by the world as one of its own 
members, and he w T as obliged to act accordingly. 

By and by what was at first difficult became 
easy, and he dropped into the world's ranks as if 
he had never taken the vows of Gocl upon him. 

24 



278 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

He committed a fatal mistake when lie did not 
quietly but openly take his position on the Lord's 
side and with his people. That step would have 
won him the battle by bringing him God's favor, 
by giving him strength and by forestalling the 
temptations of his position. It is said that Mr. 
Calhoun of South Carolina was never challenged 
to fight a duel, because he boldly took the position 
that that mode of settling differences was un- 
reasonable and wrong. And thus the young 
Christian who removes to the city or to the West 
will find a manly avowal of his profession at the 
very outset will be a shield to him from very 
many temptations. 

The importance of this advice cannot be over- 
estimated, and it is illustrated by numberless sad 
examples as well as by not a few bright ones. 
Apprentices, young mechanics, students, profes- 
sional men, merchants, men leaving the country 
for the city, or the East for the West, have given 
proof that it is a mighty safeguard to a Christian 
entering into society among strangers to identify 
himself at once with God's cause and people, and 
that to do otherwise is an expedient no more 
dangerous than wicked. Let no Christian among 
strangers sail under doubtful colors, but let him 



ACTIVE DUTY. 279 

by his life and words hoist a banner on which 

the world may see this inscription, "I am the 

Lord's/' 

a church home. 

The Christian who would secure stability and 
vigor of character must have a home in some one 
Christian church. The superiority of one church 
over another, as if one's success as a Christian 
depended on his attendance there, is not here advo- 
cated. There is a great temptation to allow per- 
sonal caprice or some trivial and unessential cir- 
cumstance to supplant principles in the matter of 
attending church services. If a man has been 
educated in a particular form of religious faith, he 
ought not to abandon that faith without a good 
reason. If a man has been trained a Roman 
Catholic or a Presbyterian, let him not renounce 
his faith without an appeal to God's word, and 
planting himself on the eternal principles of right. 
To become a Baptist merely to gratify a friend, or 
a Methodist because of the preaching of a gifted 
minister, or a Presbyterian because some obnox- 
ious minister or member may be in the church 
which the man usually attends, is to degrade the 
Christian profession. When one takes a step so 
important, he ought to be able to "give a reason 



280 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

for the hope that is in him." It is undoubtedly 
a fact most lamentable that thousands decide tha 
question, " What communion shall we join?" by 
determining the bearings of the step on their 
social popularity, their success in business, or 
some other equally sordid motive. The results 
are very painful and often disgraceful, indicating 
that a lack of Christian principle in determining 
what church they would join was a proof that the 
love of God was not in them. 

In the frequent changes which are taking place 
among churches, we find a danger which besets 
migrating Christians, whether going to some 
new country or to some town or city. The dan- 
ger is that the emigrant may lose his home in the 
church, and this danger is increased by the diffi- 
culties of finding such a home, or the temptation 
to go now to this church and now to the other, 
wandering from one place to another until the 
home feeling is all gone. When that is gone, one 
of the most effective incentives to duty and 
restraints from wrong has been taken away. 
The Christian who would have vigor and effect- 
iveness must have a church home, a place in 
which he expects to worship the Lord, a locality 
around which centre the powerful associations of 



ACTIVE DUTY. 281 

Christian fellowship and life. You may examine 
this matter extensively, and you will find that 
your ripe, vigorous, growing Christians have their 
home in some one church, and that when they 
leave that it is as when a man of right tastes and 
affections leaves his own home for a time; he 
leaves it w 7 ith regret, he returns to it with glad- 
ness. 

Let a young man remove to either of the neigh- 
boring cities, and allow himself to depart from 
this idea, that he must have a home in some one 
church; let him on Sabbath morning go to one 
church because they have a brilliant preacher, in 
the afternoon to another because the building is 
so beautiful, and in the evening to another be- 
cause the music is so good; the next Sabbath let 
him attend the cathedral in the morning, the 
Swedenborgian in the afternoon and the Univer- 
salist in the evening; let him attend now the 
Presbyterian, now the Methodist and now 
the Baptist, now the Episcopal and now the 
Papal, and in a little time as a Christian he will 
be demoralized. He has no home, no Christian 
fellowship, no special duties growing out of these, 
no higher incentive to the Christian life than the 
curiosity to hear some preacher, to see some ele- 

24* 



282 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

gant church edifice or be present at some novel 
religious ceremony. 

What is the result? His taste for novelty be- 
comes satiated, his principles are damaged, and 
in all probability he will lose his interest not 
merely in one church, but in all churches, and make 
shipwreck of his Christian character. The cases 
are not few in which this has been the highway 
which vacillating Christians have followed until 
it has led them back into the world more hard- 
ened than when they began a religious life. The 
Christian professor who, when removing from one 
place to another, does not find for himself a home 
in some one church, will not merely find his 
piety and his religious principles deteriorating 
and his virtues dimmed, but that such a course 
persisted in will be proof that he was self-deceived 
or a hypocrite. 

We cannot be too emphatic or urgent here in 
calling upon Christian emigrants, as soon as 
Providence will let them, to find a home in some 
one church. 



CHAPTER XVI. 




THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER. 

)^f N bringing these discussions to a close, it 
would savor of egotism in the writer to 
express the honesty of his own purpose to 
benefit all his Christian brethren, and es- 
pecially the younger portion of them, by discuss- 
ing some great principles and truths which have 
an important bearing on their well-being in this 
life and that beyond death. Whilst not slow to ac- 
knowledge how much self-condemnation these dis- 
cussions and illustrations have wrought in himself, 
nor the unceasing anxiety he has felt that his 
brethren should be aided to assume a higher posi- 
tion and to assert the life of Christ in the heart 
with more power, he brings no railing accusation 
in saying it is his confident belief that many live so 
far beneath their privileges as to have compara- 
tively little confidence in their own religion and 

283 



284 THE WAY LOST AND FOUND. 

very little of that joyous and soaring faith which, 
even as a bird sings in the morning, chants in 
the darkest day and under the very portals of 
death : "I know whom I have believed." When 
the heart is full of love to God, who first loved 
us, to Christ, who died for us, and to our fellow- 
men, for whom Christ died as he did for us, 
when the will and purpose of our heart to serve 
Christ drive us to acts and works and self-denials, 
when our lives and our hearts, our actions and 
our feelings, are in harmony, concentrating on the 
one object of glorifying God by saving men, — then 
God w r ill allow us to walk in the high places of 
the earth, he will lift up our heads above our en- 
emies round about, will allow us to turn many 
unto righteousness, and whilst giving us these 
signs of his love, he will also permit us to rejoice 
with exceeding joy, so that life shall be made up 
of successful labor and consequent joy, and the 
terrors of death be overcome by the ministrations 
of those angel visitants who convoy the souls of 
God's faithful servants from earth to heaven. 

But to his young Christian brethren the w T riter 
of these pages would address himself as a father 
to his beloved children, with yearnings for their 
welfare and happiness. To you life is yet young, 



CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER. 285 

the field of labor is only just entered. Some of you 
may not remain here long to bear the heat and 
burden of the day, others will be spared to toil 
and bear the responsibilities of the Church. To 
all he would say with earnestness and tender con- 
cern, The secret of success and happiness in the 
Christian life is found in being full of love of 
Christ and in giving that love expression in the 
daily duties of life. Oh, be thus and live thus, 
and you shall gather your precious sheaves for 
Christ. As you draw near to death you can say : 
" Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art 
with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort nie." 
And as you come to the judgment-seat you shall 
hear Jesus saying to you : " Well done, good and 
faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your 
Lord !" 



THE END. 



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